As revealed by bikesportnews.com earlier this month, the final of this year’s World Superbike Championship will be held under floodlights at Qatar’s Losail circuit.

The venue was on the WSBK calendar for five consecutive years between 2005 and 2009. In 2014, the races will be taking place under floodlights for the first time.

However, the South African round at Phakisa will now not take place as the circuit did not meet with the FIM’s homologation standards and the series is now looking for an alternative venue.

“Regarding the Round in South Africa originally scheduled to take place on October 19, FIM and Dorna WSBK regret to announce that, despite the efforts of the local promoter (GAS Sport), the works carried out on the race track are not advanced enough to meet the conditions required to achieve FIM homologation,|” said a WSBK spokesman.

“Dorna WSBK Organization and the International Federation are looking into the possibility of finding a replacement for this race. Depending on the replacement venue, the awards for the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, European Superstock 600 and European Junior Cup, powered by Honda, could be presented either at the French Round, scheduled on Sunday 5 October 2014 in Magny-Cours, or at the new venue.”