Courtney's runner-up result is a major boost to his Mobil Boost Mobile team that is a partnership between Walkinshaw Racing, Andretti Motorsport and McLaren boss Zac Brown's United Motorsport that was formed for this season. The former Holden-backed outfit has struggled over the past few seasons.
"It is about 12 months [since I was last on the podium]," he said. "Great start to the campaign with Walkinshaw Andretti United.
"The car worked really well all day and Shane just had a little bit on us there at the end."
Shell V-Power Racing's Scott McLaughlin finished third but struggled to match the outright pace of the Holdens.
"Awesome start to our campaign," 2017 championship runner-up said. "Congratulations to Shane - he was the absolute class of the field all day so we have a bit to find overnight.
"It is all on for tomorrow."
Starting from pole position van Gisbergen was swamped by both McLaughlin and Courtney off the line but slowly worked his way to the front and managed a number of safety car re-starts without issue.
The remaining Kiwis in the field all had problems. Fabian Coulthard really struggled for pace all weekend and then made a clumsy pass attempt on compatriot Richie Stanaway that damaged both cars. It forced Coulthard to the pits and the damage to Stanaway's Ford saw him in a tyre bundle a couple of corners later. Coulthard did manage to finish to secure some points.
Andre Heimgartner demonstrated impressive pace in his Nissan Motorsport debut but got held up badly in an altercation at a safety car re-start. An incident in front of him saw him stuck in the wrong place and have to watch a stack of cars pass him while he waited for the car in front to get going again. He ended up 17th.
A repeat race on Sunday awaits drivers on the demanding street circuit.
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