Marco Simoncelli's funeral will take place on Thursday after his body was flown back to Italy, arriving earlier this morning accompanied by the late rider's father and long-time friend Valentino Rossi.

Simoncelli was tragically killed in an unavoidable accident on lap two of the Sepang MotoGP round on Sunday. He was 24. A public viewing of Simoncelli's body is planned for Wednesday in the city theatre of his hometown, Coriano, with the funeral scheduled for Thursday, October 27 at 3:00pm in the church of Santa Maria di Coriano. The Italian will be buried in the cemetery of this town, near Riccione.