( CNN ) -- Valentino Rossi will have to do it the hard way if he is to mark his 300th MotoGP with victory in front of his adoring home fans at Mugello . Rossi could only manage 10th fastest on his Yamaha in final qualifying , way off the pace set by the reigning world champion Marc Marquez of Spain Saturday . A lap of one minute 47.270 seconds lap gave Marquez his sixth straight pole of the 2014 campaign as he bids for his sixth successive victory for the all-conquering Repsol Honda works team . But for the 35-year-old MotoGP legend Rossi there was bitter disappointment after a mistake in tire choice left him uncompetitive . `` It was the wrong decision , I felt really bad with the softer front and I was unable to improve my lap time . `` It 's a great shame , because I had a good potential and could have started on the front , my pace is good with the bike , but it 's like this . Tomorrow from the fourth row everything will be harder and more difficult , '' added the Italian . Nine-time world champion Rossi has returned to form this season and chased Marquez home in the latest round in Le Mans in France , but the whole field has struggled to match the defending title holder this season . Home rider Andrea Iannone came within 0.18 seconds of snatching pole from Marquez , with Spain 's two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo on a Yamaha third fastest . Marquez 's teammate Dani Pedrosa -- the lap record holder at Mugello -- was fourth best ahead of another Spaniard , Pol Espargaro of ~Yamaha . The two Ducati 's of Cal Crutchlow of Great Britain and Italian Andrea Dovizioso were sixth and eighth with another Briton , Bradley Smith , in seventh . But all eyes at the circuit in Tuscany will be on the remarkable Rossi to see if he can turn a series of second places to Marquez this season into his first victory to mark his milestone .
Rossi takes pole for Spaniard MotoGP . Nine straight poles for dominant world champion . Marc Marquez back in second on home circuit at Miugello . Rossi in his 300th MotoGP race .