A protest room relegation prevented Hawke's Bay TQ driver Duane Todd from becoming the third member of his family to be a two-time national champion in Greymouth on Saturday night.
"I'm pretty disappointed to be fair. It should all be decided on the track where I won the title. I'll reluctantly accept the 2NZ title and won't appeal the decision like last year because it's not worth it ... it is only an amateur sport," the Maraenui Golf Club-based professional coach said.
Todd, 36, had to wait for an appeal process to be completed last year before he was given the 1NZ title and had he retained the title on Saturday night he would have joined his cousin and clubmate Craig Todd as a back-to-back champion and his father Steve and Craig as two-time winners of the title.
"I won the first protest on Saturday night but lost my second," Todd said.
He was initially relegated to second for not having a crash bar but later proved there was enough of his crash bar on his car to meet the regulations. He was then one of three drivers to be relegated for a pole line infringement.