By a Whisker

Unlock: Win a race with a lead of 1 second or less
Global percent: 7.2% of players
Family: Racing
List status: Shown on the achievement list
Neighbours: Trust Me, I'm an Expert, Clean Rider, Around the World

By a Whisker is a win with a lead of one second or less. Racing family, 7.2 percent globally. The margin is the interesting part. A thirty-second demolition does not count, and a second-place finish a tenth behind the leader does not count. You have to win, and you have to win narrowly.

The honest way to find a one-second win is to race people at your level. Expert AI, or an Elo lobby where the rating is close, produces gaps that actually sit around a second. Amateur AI on a long MXGP heat produces the opposite: the Ruthless lap-down, a margin this icon refuses. If you are too fast for the room, shorten the race before the gap grows, or raise the AI until the last lap is a fight. Do not cut the track to manufacture a photo finish. A penalty can erase the second you were trying to keep.

What a Start!, What a Lap! and the first GP win are the neighbours because a holeshot, a fastest lap and a round win are the races in which a one-second margin usually appears. None of them require the margin. You can holeshot, run away and miss this icon on the same evening you tick the other two. Clean Rider, a win with no respawn and no penalty, stacks cleanly with a narrow win if you can do both at once. Most players will split them into two attempts.

Replay is how you check the gap when the finish banner is confusing. The clock at the line is the number that matters, not the feeling that the rider behind was close. One second is a long time in a rhythm section and a short time on a start straight. Pietramurata's compact dirt and Loket's hard-pack both reward a late inside line that steals the win without building a gap. Sand at Riola Sardo tends to spread the field. Pick the surface for the margin you want.

By a Whisker

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