Luca Grünwald was born to race. His parents named him after World Championship star Luca Cadalora. For now, the door to the World Championship has closed for Luca Grünwald. The 24-year-old from Waldkraiburg will be competing for points in the 2019 IDM Supersport on a Kawasaki.
The Bavarian has had an eventful year in the Supersport . Finishing fourth in the championship, he ultimately missed the bronze medal by two points. Luca Grünwald secured a victory at Assen and finished in the top 6 in more than half of the races he competed in. Nevertheless, he will not be continuing in the World Championship. “It just wasn’t working out for me anymore,” says the former KTM rider. “Sticking around for another year wasn’t the goal. The plan was to move up to the Supersport . It was a rollercoaster ride. Ultimately, there was also a financial shortfall that changed the situation.”
For Luca Grünwald, the way out of this predicament is to compete in the IDM Supersport class. “Go on the attack and finish up front,” is the goal set by the future Kawasaki rider, who has joined the team led by Roman Raschle and Rainer Schnock . “Signing the contract is just a formality now.” Grünwald, who already competed in a Supersport six years ago, has been in contact with the team for some time. There would have been opportunities for him in the IDM Superbike 1000 as well. Grünwald raced for Team Suzuki Mayer in 2017 and finished eighth overall. A spot with Suzuki Alber-Bischoff would have been a possibility. But Grünwald is opting for the 600cc Kawasaki ZX-6R, which has twice the displacement of the World Championship bikes.
Even during the World Championship year, Grünwald kept an eye on the IDM, “even though I didn’t attend a single race in person. Sure, you lose touch with the paddock, but I wasn’t gone for that long, after all.”
Grünwald is the team’s star rider, focusing exclusively on the 600cc class. His teammates are Henrik Müller, Sandro Furter, and Severin Bingisser. Müller is from Eschwege. The 24-year-old won an amateur racing series in 2018 with the Triumph Challenge. The 26-year-old Sandro Furter is a native of Switzerland who made his name in the Swiss Championship. He already made a guest appearance in the IDM in 2018. His compatriot Severin Bingisser, on the other hand, is a true rookie.