Back in the Garry Rogers Motorsport Ford Mustang that caught fire during qualifying in Darwin — then driven by Elliott Cleary — Golding picked up where he left off, securing pole position before leading every lap to win the opening race of the weekend.
The PremiAir Supercars driver finished ahead of Aaron Love in the Marcos Ambrose Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro and GRM teammate Jordan Cox.
It was a tough outing for reigning champion James Moffat. After qualifying on the front row and holding third early in the race, Moffat was forced to retire on Lap 6 when his GRM Mustang suffered a cooked engine due to a holed radiator.
Cox impressed with a four-place gain from seventh on the grid to claim third, finishing just ahead of current points leader Todd Hazelwood in the TFH Racing Mustang. Ben Grice and Adam Garwood followed in their Mustangs, while Elliot Barbour (Camaro) and Lachlan Evennett (Mustang) rounded out the top eight.
Ben Bargwanna charged from 15th on the grid to ninth, passing Nathan Herne on the final lap. Herne had climbed as high as eighth after starting 16th but ultimately slipped back.
Cleary recovered from a first-lap spin — after contact with Tom Davies — to finish 11th in a new Mustang, ahead of Chase Hoy (Camaro), Jack Smith (Mustang), and category debutant Clay Richards (Mustang), who made up seven positions.
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Racing continues Sunday with Race 2 at 9:20am AEST and Race 3 at 4:05pm AEST.
In the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Series, title rivals Joel Heinrich and Kody Garland shared the spoils in the opening two races at Sandown, with two more to come on Sunday.
Heinrich, who qualified fastest, stalled at the start of Race 1, allowing Garland to launch from the outside of the front row into a commanding lead. Garland was never challenged, while Caleb Paterson jumped into second and held the position to the flag.
Heinrich dropped to ninth but mounted a strong recovery to finish third, clear of a multi-car battle that raged throughout the midfield. Ryan Reynolds emerged on top of that fight in fourth, ahead of Nathan Williams, Kent Quinn, Diesel Thomas and Reece Chapman.
Jack Boyd, who qualified third, was delayed by Heinrich’s stall and fell to 10th before a fuel pickup issue dropped him to 18th.
Race 2 was run in damp conditions and initially led by Garland before Heinrich moved ahead on Lap 1. Paterson followed him through into second as Reynolds, Quinn, Williams and others jostled behind.
Thomas spun at Turn 4 on Lap 4, and two laps later Scott Andriske went off at the same corner, triggering a safety car. Reynolds also retired with a mechanical failure during that period.
When racing resumed briefly, Paterson overtook Heinrich, while Garland slipped to sixth. However, the race was red-flagged after Nathan Barber rolled at Turn 1, and the result was rolled back to the last completed lap.
Heinrich was declared the winner, ahead of Paterson, Garland, Williams, Matt Dornan, Brandon Madden and Boyd.
Race 3 is scheduled for 10:00am AEST on Sunday, with Race 4 at 12:50pm AEST.
Meanwhile in the First Focus Radical Cup Australia Series, Cooper Cutts extended his championship lead with a second and first-place finish across the opening two races.
Peter Paddon led Race 1 from pole ahead of Cutts, while a Turn 1 collision between Peter Clare and Terry Knowles brought out an early safety car.
Once racing resumed, Paddon struggled with overinflated tyres but held off Cutts to win. Mason Harvey impressed on debut in an older-spec car, finishing just 0.7s off the lead in third. Chris Reindler and Ruairidh Avern rounded out the top five, with a large gap to the rest of the field.
Race 2 was set from second-fastest qualifying times, and Paddon again started from pole.
He led into Turn 1 but was passed by Harvey, Cutts and Bryce Moore by Turn 4. Harvey led until Lap 8, when Cutts made a decisive move at Turn 2 and held the lead to the finish.
Paddon recovered to third, ahead of Moore. A late safety car — triggered when Avern beached his car — didn’t affect the final order.
Knowles finished sixth and took AM class honours, ahead of Jim Hernandez and Brad Russell.
Two more Radical Cup races will run on Sunday at 10:35am and 3:25pm.
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