Beleaguered powerboat enthusiast Tonka Simpson insists he did not violate race rules to gain an unfair advantage during this year’s Around the Island Race.The 25-year-old pilot maintains that he played by the book and feels he has been wrongly accused by FB class rivals Point Mart of racing with illegal engine parts and leaving Ferry Reach amid a protest to avoid a post-race inspection.“We ran the best we could do and now we are being hated on by Point Mart,” Simpson told The Royal Gazette. “They are trying to make me look like a cheater, and I am not.“Point Mart has been against me ever since I came out last year, they are like sore losers.”Simpson’s co-pilot Seth Chetty echoed his colleague’s sentiments.“Tonka is a good driver and that’s what they can’t take,” he said. “Now they want to call him a cheater because he beat them hands down. They have a faster boat but they couldn’t hold their line in choppy waters.“They have always had this negative energy towards us, and this is the result of it as far as I am concerned.”In response to the pair’s claims, Point Mart team spokesman Jason DeSilva said nothing could be further from the truth.“We lodged a protest to look into having his engine inspected and he refused and then turns around days later and says he can’t wait to be inspected. No, no, no ... I’m not buying that,” he said.“When you refuse to have your engine inspected it almost admits some sense of guilt. If any person is so anxious to clear their name then I feel there should be no rebuttal to having an inspection carried out on the spot.”After appealing against his disqualification Simpson subjected his motor to a “voluntary” inspection by an independent and qualified technician before being declared class winner by the race committee.It now has been left to the same committee to determine whether the sophomore powerboat racer will be allowed to keep his crown once they have completed a review of the –matter.