tbf Marc also had his fair share of bad luck with the PI disqualification. And anyway, despite Jorge achieving more wins that season, it was a wonder of a rookie year with 9 poles (most by a rookie ever) and 11 fastest laps (nuts).
Yes I agree, whatever the eventual margin was if MM had lost because of the PI disqualification due to a rule which they literally made up minutes before the race, and possibly did not communicate adequately to his non-native English speaking crew it would have been a travesty, and I thought so then despite being a Lorenzo fan and not much of an MM fan at the time. Jorge would have liked his chances for the title leading into Assen, but crashing and sustaining injuries however unfortunately is not the way to win titles. I guess DNS and 5th is no different than 5th and DNS as far as when he returned.
To be fair to Max, he came second to Doohan who DNF'd in 3 races and didn't finish below second that year. If he debuts on a satellite Honda a year later instead of '98 maybe things go differently for him.
