Jake Dixon laid out his status as a favourite for pole position ahead of qualifying for the 2023 Catalunya Moto2 as he turned in the fastest time in final practice, while title contender Tony Arbolino found himself outside the top twenty.

Chasing his second win of the season to keep his slim title hopes alive, Dixon broke clear of an otherwise tight group of riders with a 1m 43.983secs advantage.

Placing him almost four tenths clear of the opposition as the only rider to dip below 1m 44secs, the GasGas Aspar rider headed off Aron Canet and Friday pacesetter Ai Ogura on the timesheets.

- 2023 Moto2 World Championship Standings -

Beyond Dixon, the star of P3 was Marcos Ramirez who - in his second outing this season with the American Racing - surged up the order to give the US-based team its first direct Q2 qualification of the year in a fine fourth.

Albert Arenas completed the top five, ahead of Austrian Moto2 race winner Celestino Vietti, the Fantic Racing rider - who is set to join Red Bull KTM Ajo in 2024 - rising out of the drop zone to sixth with his final effort.

Championship leader Pedro Acosta was seventh after suffering a moment on his final lap, the Spaniard with the psychological advantage after key title rival Arbolino failed to make it into Q2 directly. The Marc VDS rider couldn’t improve on his final revolution, leaving him down in 21st.

Elsewhere, Sam Lowes booked his place into Q2 with the 11th fastest time, while Rory Skinner enjoyed one of his better P3 sessions in 23rd.