While his new teammate Paul Tracy already has struck gold twice and sits comfortably atop the point standings, Patrick Carpentier has endured a rather more tepid start to the season. Carpentier was almost as quick as Tracy in both St Petersburg and Monterrey but he slid into the tire barriers in Florida while running second to Tracy and in Mexico he was hit by a virus that kept him off the track most of Saturday. Carpentier missed the final qualifying session, spending the afternoon in bed at his hotel. The result was that he started the race from near the back--15th--but despite not feeling 100 percent he drove a great race. After the final round of pitstops Patrick was battling with Bruno Junqueira for fifth place but with seven laps to go he slid off the road and stalled following an optimistic attempt to outbrake Junqueira.