Riding a Kawasaki, Luca Grünwald won the 2020 IDM Supersport 600 class championship. After moving up to the premier Superbike 1000 class, he immediately secured third place in the overall standings in 2021 on a BMW. However, the Kiefer team was unable to retain the 27-year-old Bavarian from Waldkraiburg. Grünwald could not resist the allure of Honda and will ride the CBR 1000 RR-R for the Holzhauer Racing Promotion Team in 2022. The team has already been testing in Valencia, Spain, since this weekend.
Grünwald seemed to get the hang of the Fireblade very quickly and settled right into the bike under ideal weather conditions. “He still has a few requests for adjustments, such as the seating position, the handlebars, and the windshield, but otherwise he’s thrilled with our bike,” says team manager Jens Holzhauer, adding that he’s pleased “that Luca didn’t expect the Honda to be this far along in development.”
Grünwald's career began on minibikes. He won the German Cup in 2006. In the 2007 season, he moved up to the ADAC Junior Cup and, as the youngest competitor, won the championship with four victories. In 2012, he claimed his first IDM title in the 125cc class, followed two years later by the overall victory in the newly created IDM Moto3 class.
Grünwald also enjoyed success in the World Championship in the smaller class. He competed in the 2018 Supersport 300 World Championship, won the race at Assen, and finished fourth overall at the end of the year. In between, the Bavarian also raced 1000cc motorcycles in the IDM. He then tried his hand at 600cc bikes in the IDM, which was rewarded with a title on a Kawasaki. Now all that’s missing is the title in the premier Superbike 1000 class.