It's extremely nuanced. 'Light years ahead' is correct since you are thinking about a race where one competitor is a long distance ahead of others. On the other hand, 'light years away' doesn't make sense, since we think of achievements in terms of time needed, rather than distance.
I think the headcanon is that the shortest distance is impressive.
Either a different faster and harder route through "the kessel". Or that 12 parsecs is the absolute minimum distance it can be done in, perfectly apexing every corner.
yeah honestly I know the answer even though I did the joke. the star wars mythical travel requires hyperspace navigation where objects still exist in it and the nav computer is basically plotting the smallest safe distance (or something like that). Basically all speed in hyperspace is the same its just about the route. Its basically explained in the original movie when han says (spoilers ahead /s):
"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"