For as long as he’s been racing motorcycles, Mike Alessi has generally been considered the unofficial king of the holeshot, nailing start after start with his quick reflexes and unmatched technique, no matter what brand of bike he’s riding. In 2010, however, Red Bull Honda’s Andrew Short has undoubtedly wrestled that unique honor away from #800. During the ’10 outdoor series, no one has gotten more holeshots than Shorty.During a recent round of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Series, Short gave Dirt Rider an exclusive primer in the art of the holeshot.
The first thing I always do is I try to get the slack out of my pants, you know you always have that kind of gap? I pull the slack out so there is no movement. Nathan Ramsey taught me that.
Next, I lock my legs in front of the foot pegs so they aren’t going to go anywhere. Then I keep my elbows really high. I learned that technique by watching Alessi, he keeps them up if you watch him.
I keep the RPMs up really steady and take the slack out of the clutch and hold everything steady until the gate drops.
Once you go over the gate, obviously, you want to keep the front wheel down with as much power applied as possible – that’s the name of the game.
The next most critical thing is making the transition of putting your feet on the pegs to get the most power to the ground. I typically start in second and you have to get a good shift to third. The quicker you can get third gear without revving out and, also keeping that torque going, the better you will do.
The last thing you need to do is practice these things until they become automatic, and that’s the biggest thing.
