Starting from second the Garry Rogers Motorsport driver was clinical on his way to a comfortable lights-to-flag win.

He kept series leader Joey Mawson at arm's length the entire race, the gap hovering between one and two seconds before Golding pulled away in the closing laps to a final winning margin of 3.2s.

"It's a perfect start to the weekend," said Golding.

"It's been really tight with Joey, I knew the start was going to be important. I got off the line well and just had to manage it from there.

"It's slippery out there, though. I had to manage a bit if oil and dirt all over the place. It was about trying to keep the car as straight as possible."

While unable to run down Golding, second place still put Mawson closer to sealing the Australian Drivers' Championship.

He was three positions clear of closest rival Thomas Randle, giving him a formidable 52-point lead with two races to go.

Luis Leeds finished the race a distant third after charging past Tim Macrow and Nathan Herne.

The latter pushed Leeds to the end, the pair ultimately separated by less than a second, with Randle and Macrow finishing fifth and sixth.

The second race is at 12:35pm local time.

Watch the action live and free at Motorsport.tv.