Ask to go in front after a poor start (5)
I believe the answer is:
plead
'ask' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'go in front after a poor start' is the wordplay.
'go in front' becomes 'lead' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'start' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'poor' is 'p'.
'lead' after 'p' is 'PLEAD'.
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plead that I've seen before include "Argue (a position in court)" , "Supplicate" , "State whether one is guilty or not" , "Request" , "Offer something in excuse!" .)