Start trick

A Start Trick is a trick that is used to gain additional speed by doing a maneuver at the start of the race, moving slightly to the side then straightening out again.

This trick can vary a bit, because there are TAS start tricks and RTA start tricks. For the RTA Stadium Booster start trick, the player must smoothsteer or tap steer to have one pair of wheels drop off the start ramp, then just before contacting the booster, straighten out again.

Start tricks exist in different variations for the Stadium, Island, Coast, Snow and Bay cars.

Booster start trick

The most well-known start trick is the Booster start trick on Stadium. Driving off the start ramp and turning back to the booster will save a hundredth over driving straight forward. An even faster TAS-only variation of this start trick was discovered by JaV in 2022. In his video, he details using Bruteforce to find a start trick even better than the normal start trick. This has been dubbed as the JaV trick. Due to Determinism in Trackmania, this only worked in the -X direction. However, players found that by bruteforcing it with the right settings, it can work in any direction. It is now referred to as the super start trick.
Settings for bruteforcing the booster start trick. Graphic by igntuL.
There are also other start tricks. Settings for bruteforcing the start downhill booster start trick. Graphic by igntuL.
Settings for bruteforcing the start platform booster start trick. Graphic by igntuL.
Settings for bruteforcing the start turn booster start trick. Graphic by igntuL.