[geraintthomas]

It's possible, as I did exactly the same thing.

Years ago with my old Celica T-Sport at the Brecon Beacons, I was pulled over and decided to see how the car would set off with quite a harsh launch. Needless to say I didn't do it again as it slipped in a few gears for about 10 minutes later, and about an hour later I had to engage gears with a huge amount of force.

The thrust bearing was the culprit, but they obviously come as part of a clutch kit and is part of the procedure in changing a clutch. Basically what's happening is that the clutch isn't releasing all of the way when it should when your foot is pressed down.

To test this, go on a flat piece of road and put it in first. With your foot on the clutch, the car would creep forward ever so slightly (or stay still on a slight slope). When you take it out of gear, the car would return back to normal (or start rolling backwards on a slope).