Red Devils Aprilia World Superbike contender Leon Haslam will not defend his Suzuka Eight-Hours title this weekend after switching to Aprilia in 2015 but says he plans to go back to the prestigious event.

Haslam won the race in 2013 and 2014 with the Musashi Honda team alongside Michael Van Der Mark but after changing manufacturers, he isn’t able to race there this year and his spot was taken by twice MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner.

“I’ve seen pictures of the new team, obviously Casey replacing me at the team to ride there. It’s one of those events that, after winning the last few years there, it was the highlight of my last two years so I’d love to go back there and the team was fantastic,” said Haslam, speaking to bikesportnews.com.

“Even more so this year, Yamaha is in there strong with some Grand Prix riders and Suzuki are going big. It looks like a fun year to do it. I am going to miss it, it’s a fantastic event but I feel like I’m competitive and enjoying my World Superbikes now so I have the world championship to look at.”