Coimbatore, Jul 8 (IANS): Sri Lankan racer Bryan Perera emerged the star of the rain-marred day, winning two Euro JK 18 races as the opening round of the 21st JK Tyre national racing championship concluded here on Sunday.

Chennai's Karthik Tharani, who had impressed in this category on Saturday, however, made a valiant comeback in the fourth and final race to catch up with Perera as the first round came to a thrilling finish.

Mumbai's Nayan Chatterjee stayed right behind the leaders by making the podium thrice on Sunday, grabbing the second place twice and the third place once.

Another Chennai racer Ashwin Datta enjoyed a good run, finishing second in Race 4 and third in Race 2 and 3.

The LGB 4 too proved to be an exciting affair, with Delhi's Rohit Khanna and Chennai's Raghul Rangsamy winning one race each.

Chennai's Vishnu Prasad had won Race 1 on Saturday to produce three different winners in the three races.

Vishnu and Kolhapur's Chittesh Mandody took the second and third places in both the races to pick up valuable points.

In the Suzuki Gixxer Cup, Joseph Matthew continued his imperious run, remaining unbeaten over this weekend too.

He finished the 10 laps in 14:16.799 minutes, recording his quickest time of 1:23.411 minutes in Lap 6 for his second straight victory.

Syed Muzamil Ali (Bengaluru) and Malsawmdawngliana (Aizawl), who finished third and second on Saturday evening, swapped places in Race 2 to finish on the same number of points.

A carnival-like atmosphere prevailed at the Kari Motor Speedway, with a big holiday crowd braving the rains to enjoy the races.