No he was not. He placed 9th the year before, and barely scraped the top six in 96.
He had a great run that year, by winning 4 contests, but not too many make those kind of gains- couple that with the fact of his dismal outings in previous years, he wasn't a threat.
I also read an article where Dorian also said "Nobody expected this! I mean, he wasn't even top six last year, and he takes the whole thing this year?!"