After a court trial involving Valentino Rossi's clash with Marc Márquez in the previous race, the FIM staff and CAS rejected Rossi's appeal of suspension of three penalty points given for purposely pushing Márquez wide, and declared that he would start the round from last place.

Championship hopeful Jorge Lorenzo had taken pole position and took the start, and led from start to finish, closely shadowed by Honda duo Márquez and Dani Pedrosa, who were buffers preventing Rossi from reaching the second position he'd needed to become champion.

Lorenzo was subject to heavy pressure by the Honda riders during the final lap, but held on to claim his third MotoGP and fifth overall title.

[2] Dominique Aegerter was replaced by Joshua Hook after the second practice session.

[6] The first attempt to run the race was interrupted following an accident involving multiple riders in the opening lap.