Carpenter denied St. Pete return

Carpenter was knocked unconscious and suffered bruised lungs when his crashed car was hit by Paul Dana's Panoz in the Sunday morning warm-up at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dana was subsequently declared dead from injuries sustained in the violent accident.

After being released from hospital on Monday, Carpenter declared that he hoped to be back in the cockpit for the next round, but the series medics did not believe he would be ready.

"According to Dr. Henry Bock, IRL senior director of medical services, Carpenter will not be cleared to drive in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 2," said a league statement.

Vision Racing have not yet named a replacement for Carpenter in this weekend's race, although veteran single-seater racer Roberto Moreno deputised in road course testing at Homestead on Tuesday.

The Brazilian had previously assisted Carpenter, whose background is in oval racing, during road course testing in 2005.

"It's an unfortunate situation," Moreno said. "I'm glad that if somebody had to replace somebody, that I was called for the job.

"Working with the team last year has helped a little bit because they already knew about me. I had a seat ready to go, so it was a quick last-minute decision and I was a logical choice."

Moreno was 15th fastest in the test.