Qualifying was a dramatic affair for the World and British champions who set provisional pole in the first session ahead of fellow Brits Ben and Tom Birchall with series leaders Pekka Paivarinta and Timo Karttiala tucked into third place.

But the final session saw Paivarinta pick up speed and set the fastest lap while Reeves suffered from a problem with the brakes on the Eastern Airways Suzuki.

“We lost the brakes and had a big, big moment nearly hitting the wall. It was a close call but we were ok,” said Reeves. “But we were unable to make it back out on circuit and ended the session in second place, the time being set in the first session.”

There were 98,000 MotoGP fans watching at Sachsenring and the majority braved the foul weather on Sunday to stay and watch the sidecar race at the end of the day.

The rain had come down in torrents during the 250 and MotoGP events and was still falling as the sidecar crews took to the grid for their 20-lap race.

The sliding Fins Paivarinta and Karttiala were odds on favourites to win, as they are outstanding competitors in the wet conditions. But Reeves was not to be outdone and as the lights went out he shot to the front and led the pack around the first six laps.

Paivarinta took over at the front on lap seven but Reeves fought back two laps later to regain his position. Once again the Fin went past with Reeves right on his tail fighting for position.

A dramatic 13th lap saw Reeves spin off and lose ground. He rejoined the race but Paivarinta had pulled away to an unassailable lead and the champion had to settle for second place at the end of the 20 laps.

“I thought we had the better of Pekka mid-race but the rain got heavier again and we spun off and out of contention. It’s a shame really but at least we shed 10kg of the winners ballast and handed it over to Pekka, so next time out we will be on level pegging.”

The next round is at Rijeka in Croatia on August 17 where Reeves and Farrance will be chasing the race win in an effort to regain the championship lead.

Meanwhile the third round of the British championship was held at Knockhill in Scotland on Sunday and Reeves and Farrance saw their 61-point lead reduced to 17 points in their absence. Stuart Muldoon took a win and a second place to edge closer to the series lead while Richard Gatt and Paul Randall rode to third place in each of the two races to remain in third place on 110 points.