Crossbreak,
If a genius type like Lebowski doesn't have sensorless operation worked out, just let it go. Sensorless will always be pedal first at best. Just think about it. With a hubmotor you're talking about very low rpm in those first couple of meters, so the controller can't have enough info wrt to direction and timing, so it relies on trial and error...thus the noisy hiccups during startup.
If you really want to go sensorless, then the route to take is one tooth per phase and a sensorless controller for every 3 phases. At that point you can use tiny RC controllers for each phase and get a nice smooth start along with perfect timing at higher rpm, since the controller isn't reliant on sensors that are easily out of position of fractions of a degree (which can have big effects with the common hubbie sensor placement). This approach was tested and proven years ago, but gained no traction on ES due to so many "followers" following crap. Personally I took a different approach and settled on 6 phase motors, which enable even the cheapest of the cheap trap controllers to offer near silent operation. Even craptastic sensorless works quite well, though I stick with sensored for virtual silent takeoffs.