The point of the gold = 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc is so that you could race cool and calm without feeling like you need to bash and corner cut your way into 1st every race.
Considering you start races at the back and there is no quali (which makes an "not realistic!" Argument moot), I thought it was a fine idea. Give people an incentive to race clean and still achieve without feeling like they're in a destruction Derby.
For me, winning is not the ultimate in racing, it's racing hard and fast, biut clean at the same time, then I'll watch a replay of that race and feel proud of the race. Speeding past corners and staying on track. Racing close with the AI but not barging through them. Nailing Apexes.
Watching a replay of bashing other cars around, cutting corners, scraping walls etc is terrible. Nothing to be proud of. If I even make the smallest mistake I'll restart. Not because I can't win, but because my aim is to race clean as possible while going fast as possible.