He qualified on pole position in Australia, but in lap 7 he was overtaken by Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller, and three laps later the rear end of Márquez' bike was struck by Johann Zarco, which caused Zarco to crash and Márquez seat to malfunction, ending his race. In Malaysia, he started on seventh place, but took a ninth victory after race leader Valentino Rossi crashed out in a close battle with Márquez, who had chased him down to just a few tenths of a second, finishing only in 18th place. However, at the final race of the season at Valencia, he crashed out of the race having chosen harder wet tyres than the opposition on the soaked track.