Photo: Stefano Grasso / LGCT

There was more than just a place in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Antwerp at stake in tonight’s final qualifier, as the winner of the BMW sponsored 1.55m class would also drive away with a stunning BMW 4-series cabriolet. At the end of a fiercely fought jump-off, it was Kevin Staut who was handed the key to have his moment of glory at the wheel, and he entertained the capacity crowd with some Formula 1 style circuits of the arena.

14 combinations went through to the jump-off after the first round and Germany’s Hans-Dieter Dreher set the pace as first to go, jumping clear in a time of 37 seconds flat. He did not hold the lead for long, as Kevin Staut, fourth to go, executed an extremely fast round with Quismy Des Vaux HDC to take the lead, shaving over 3 seconds off the time with some impressively tight turns.

It looked like it might be a double for Marlon Modolo Zanotell, who took all the risks and placed Staut’s position at the top of the leaderboard in jeopardy, but it was not quite enough and he had to settle for second place. Egypt’s Karim Elzoghby, riding the relatively inexperienced Colour Girl, finished third.

The four day show will have a thrilling finale on Saturday, with the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Antwerp due to kick off at 6.15 pm.

Belgian rider Gregory Wathelet talks about his chances at LGCT Antwerp

and his strategy when producing young horses.

Photo: Stefano Grasso / LGCT

Yesterday's qualifier concluded with a thrilling jump-off between the 21 riders clear from the first round. It was the last line of course designer Luc Musette's jump-off course which proved to be decisive, with Brazil's Marlon Modolo Zanotelli and Zerlin M (pictured) coming out on top. The distance down to the last caused a few problems, with the last fence particularly significant to the final standings, however Marlon got away with a tight turn to the penultimate wall to post the fastest time.

France's Pénélope Leprevost and Sultane des Ibis took an early lead before being caught by Marlon, although Kent Farrington with the impressive grey, Willow, posed a significant threat later on, just missing out by two hundredths of a second. Last to go was Belgium's Olivier Philippaerts, who was eager to win in front of a vibrant home crowd, but he could only do enough to finish third with Aragorn van Schuttershof.

Photo of the Day Photo: Stefano Grasso / LGCT Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani is joined by five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx.

Still to come at LGCT Antwerp We speak to last year's Longines Global Champions Tour of Antwerp Bronze medallist Constant Van Paesschen. See the full interview on the LGCT Antwerp web gallery and social media channels tomorrow.    To watch all of the elite-level competition live on GCT TV, including tomorrow's Longines Global Champions Tour of Antwerp Grand Prix click here.