CR Scuderia brought their maiden FIA GT Championship campaign to a bruising conclusion with a run to fourth and ninth in Argentina.

Following success in British GT and Formula Renault this season, CR Scuderia were confident of a strong end to their first year on the global stage around the stunning new San Luis circuit.

However, things got off to a frustrating start for Rob Bell and Andrew Kirkalday when Kirkaldy was tipped into a spin at the first corner, dropping him to the back of the field. Nonetheless, both drivers embarked on a fine drive back through the field, battling their way up to second place at one point.

Although they would slip back to third eventually, Bell and Kirkaldy were still on course for a podium when they were hit by a rival Porsche on the very final lap. Falling to fourth, Kirklady was disappointed to end the year in that way.

“Yet again we were quick enough but we still seem to have that big target painted on the rear of our car,” he said. “That is four times in four races now but what can you do? I was very surprised when the Porsche hit me at the end. I turned in and 'bang' he hit me.”

The second Ferrari 430GT of Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen, meanwhile, saw their hopes dashed when a throttle cable came loose mid-way through the race. Losing them several laps in the pit lane as they solved the problem, they would eventually finish ninth.

“The throttle cable came loose,” explained Niarchos after his run. “This left us with about 50% power during Tim's stint. We fixed it but it became a bit academic after that as we were three laps down and at that pace you just have to stay out of everyone's way and end up picking up all sorts of rubbish on your tyres.”