In the GD, when I change from 1 to 2, as it passes through neutral I have to then pull the lever ever so slightly to the right. This makes the change smoother.
I'm not sure if this is a legacy of it being built for the left hand drive market, but if I pull the lever straight back, i get the notchy feeling.
I now quite enjoy trying to make it as smooth as possible - like a knife through hot butter. 
Different to mine, I'll push mine firmly to the left and it's smooth from 1st to 2nd.
I'll try that now!
I do think I've tried every which way though and came up with the slight right hand kink with the left hand in the middle that works best. 
Pushing it to the left should work, the problem with the 1st to 2nd change is the spring tries to pull the stick over to neutral in the middle of shifting, plus the positioning of the shifter and driver also gives an un-natural movement as when changing you are also slightly pulling the stick to the right and have to noticeably be thinking every change about keeping it forced to the left for a smoother change.
All the other gears are perfect, it's only that 1st to 2nd you/I have to think about.
