The result was still enough for Whincup, the five-time championship winner, to increase his lead in the 2014 standings. Ford's Mark Winterbottom snared third at the very end from Holden's Tim Slade but was penalised for a last-lap move on Slade, with the Holden driver elevated to third.
Despite several near-misses on the unforgiving street circuit, the safety car was called for only twice.
Greg Murphy's 200th V8 Supercars appearance lasted mere seconds as he and James Courtney's day ended with a crash at the race start, and Ford's David Reynolds, a winner at Surfers last year, crashed out midway through the event.
Holden veteran Craig Lowndes' championship hopes also appear over after suffering a late drama and finished well back in 18th.
But the story of the day was van Gisbergen's ability to recover from the disappointment of missing out at Bathurst.
It's well known that motorsport is a particularly fickle mistress.
Van Gisbergen and fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin flirted two weeks ago with Bathurst - the biggest crown in Southern Hemisphere racing - but, ultimately, struck out when mistakes ended their chances.
Van Gisbergen stalled his car during a routine pit stop with 11 laps to go when leading and McLaughlin earlier slid into a wall trying to get back into the lead.
"As you grow up, you get over spending too much time being disappointed," McLaughlin said. "Motorsport is probably the worst for how often something can go wrong. There's the potential for something to happen every lap and sometimes things do.
"It's the same for races. You can't undo what's happened. I'm still a bit pissed off with what happened but, the longer ago it becomes, the less I think about it. You've just got to get back in the car and go out and do your thing. If you start worrying about things or crashing again you're not in the right job and should hand the car over to someone else.
"It's just me in the car and if I crash, I crash. If I don't, I don't. People make mistakes, it's no use worrying about it. I've had an awesome career so far and had a lot of highs, so there are bound to be a lot of lows at some stage. Motorsport is like no other sport and I think we just have to be mentally stronger."
Professional sport is full of mental strength coaches and sports psychologists, not to mention self-help stuff. No matter which school of thought you subscribe to, the great NFL coach Vince Lombardi had it nailed, " a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It's a state of mind - you could call it character in action."
Both McLaughlin and van Gisbergen made the top-10 shoot out yesterday, with van Gisbergen going on to secure pole before his race win and McLaughlin qualifying second.
"You care about things like [Bathurst] but you also don't," he said. "I've been doing it long enough to know things happen, good and bad.
"Sure, I felt pretty average after the race but, by the Tuesday, I was thinking about the next race and I haven't really thought much about Bathurst since. I've got a job to do this weekend, so I can't be thinking about the last time I raced.
The Gold Coast 600 wraps up today with another 300km event.
- Additional reporting AAP
