Manuel Gonzalez took advantage of a late red flag period to snatch the top spot in third and final practice for the Indian Moto2 at the Buddh International Circuit.

The Spaniard was one of only a handful of riders to get out of the pit-lane quick enough to get two more fast laps on the board following a late red flag pause.

With most of his rivals whittled down to just a single opportunity to improve their standing, Gonzalez duly leapt ahead of Pedro Acosta with a 1m 51.608secs lap, just over a tenth quicker than his countryman.

As ever-evolving track conditions ensured much faster lap times than on Friday, while it was Gonzalez with the advantage heading into Q2, it was championship leader Acosta who looked the more consistent and cement his status as pre-race favourite.

Behind the KTM Ajo rider, Celestino Vietti was another to make strong gains after the red flag to go third, while Dennis Foggia took full advantage of trailing Acosta ahead by producing his most convincing timed session result of the year in fourth.

Alonso Lopez completed the top five, ahead of Ai Ogura, Filip Salac - who leapt from outside the top twenty into seventh at the flag - Joe Roberts and both Marc VDS Racing riders, Tony Arbolino leading of Sam Lowes.

Elsewhere, Jake Dixon scraped through to Q2 having had to rely on a last gasp final time attack that lifted him to 12th following a crash at Turn 8 that led to a lengthy period in the pit box.

Rory Skinner, meanwhile, enjoyed one of the biggest overnight gains to end his session in 22nd - 0.4s off an automatic Q2 place - having languished at the back of the field on Friday.

Lukas Tulovic, meanwhile, was the rider responsible for the red flag with four minutes on the clock remaining. The Husqvarna IntactGP rider came down heavily at Turn 7, Tulovic - who was conscious according to official communications - requiring medical assistance at the side of the track