Holeshot


The holeshot is a motorsport terminology to describe a rider who has the strongest start to get up to racing speed. It is usually the driver who leaves a starting area first from a standing start.

Motorcycle, off-road, bicycle, powerboat racing

The term is used in motorcycle racing, off-road racing for the rider who is the first one through the first turn. In some cases a holeshot award will be given, which is a prize separate from winning the race.
Many motorcycle racers consider the start to be the most important part of a race, and it is particularly important in those forms of the sport where the tracks are very small, tight and difficult to pass on. This is particularly relevant in motocross where racers line up alongside each other rather than behind each other in tarmac-based sports. The term had also found its way into bicycle motocross racing by the early 1970s because BMX is a bicycle derivative of motorcycle motocross and has inherited many terms from that sport. In BMX the holeshot is even more important since BMX races are single lap 25 to 45 second races with only a few opportunities to pass in that time period. Achieving the holeshot in BMX will earn the rider a victory the majority of the time.
race
This term can also be used to describe the starting performance of a vehicle. A vehicle that is fast off the line is said to have a good "holeshot".
A holeshot maneuver in off-road bicycle racing is when a racer moves from the relatively flat, open area of the start to the narrower confines of the single track ahead of the other racers. A successful holeshot affords the first racer some control over the tempo of the race, as passing on the narrow single track can break the passing racer's rhythm.

Holeshot win

In drag racing, a "holeshot win" refers to a victory in which a rider runs a slower elapsed time, but wins the race due to a faster reaction time at the start.