Sceats, 17, fought off an early challenge from compatriot Callum Hedge before stamping his authority on the race and romping home to victory by more than 5.5sec.
A little overwhelmed after his biggest win, the youngster was quick to pay tribute to those who had helped him on the way.
"We have been very strong in the second half of the season and I’ve loved going head to head with (championship winner) Roman (Bilinski)," he said.
"We’ve been a bit unlucky with results but it feels great to finish like this.
"I wouldn’t be here without my family and I’m definitely going to share this one. We’ve been through a lot to get to this moment."
With Kaleb Ngatoa absent with a hand injury after a crash on Saturday morning, 17 drivers took the start of the 27-lap race, and as the lights went out, it was Sceats who was cleanest away, while Hedge had to go defensive immediately as the field surged through the first chicane.
As the field entered the last 20 laps, tyre management became the focus for the field in the searing heat of Cromwell.
Up front, Sceats was pulling away from the rest — but could not shake Hedge, who sat a couple of car lengths behind him, pressuring him for a lap or two before resting his tyres and repeating the process. With 10 laps completed it was this cat and mouse battle for honours that was the most entertaining part of the race. Sceats and Hedge traded fastest laps as they stretched their advantage over Michael Shin and the rest to 4sec at halfway.
Hedge had no answer to his countryman and former school classmate and slowly but surely had to switch his attention to a closing Shin behind. His advantage evaporated with his grip over the next couple of laps and with five to go, the Korean was right on Hedge’s tail.
It was plain sailing for Sceats in the final few laps and he remained the fastest man in the race right the way to the flag, having led all the way.
Hedge made it home in second for a Kiwi 1-2, while Jacob Abel had a lonely race to fourth after his earlier battles with Shin.
Aron emerged shaken but unscathed, while Roman was nursing bruising after his heavy impact with the track. Remarkably, the accident meant the remains of Bilinski’s car crossed the line in fifth place.
Aron was classified sixth, while Alex Crosbie could be well satisfied with his seventh place in his debut season at this level of competition.
Ryder Quinn flew the flag for the circuit-owning Quinn family with a solid eighth, beating Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth in the process. Another fine performance by Elliot Cleary saw the Australian round out the top 10.
— Staff reporter
