Merely one week after the tragic death of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, another motorsports star has lost his life, this time it was MotoGP’s Marco Simoncelli who was killed following a crash on the second lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Simoncelli, who was only 24, was involved in a crash when he lost the front end of his Gresini Honda only to finish into the path of oncoming Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, both of whom then hit the Honda.

Before being taken to the circuit’s medical center, the young Italian laid on the track unconscious, his helmet having come off during the incident. Unfortunately, Simoncelli was pronounced dead later in the afternoon.

He was taken by ambulance to the circuit's medical centre, but at 4.56 pm local time, it was announced he had succumbed to his injuries.

Edwards was able to walk away from the crash but suffered a dislocated shoulder, while Rossi able to continue until the race was cancelled.

Marco Simoncelli died as a result of massive trauma to his head, neck and chest, MotoGP's medical director has confirmed.

This tragic death was the first one in MotoGP since Daijiro Katoh, also a Gresini rider, was killed in 2003 during the Japanese Grand Prix.

Simoncelli, a rising star in MotoGP, had recently announced that he would be once again be riding for satellite team Gresini Honda next year, having the chance to ride a factory prepared Honda bike.

A former European 125cc champion, Simoncelli was a race winner and frontrunner during three years in world championship 125cc racing before coming to the 250cc series in 2006.

He stayed on in 250cc to defend his title in 2009 before securing a MotoGP seat with Gresini for 2010 and became even more competitive as his rookie season went on.