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| 1976 Japanese Grand Prix | ||||
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Race 16 of 16 in the1976 Formula One season
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| Race details | ||||
| Date | 24 October 1976 | |||
| Official name | XI Japanese Grand Prix[1] | |||
| Location | Fuji Speedway Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan | |||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | |||
| Course length | 4.359 km (2.709 miles) | |||
| Distance | 73 laps, 318.207[2] km (197.725 miles) | |||
| Weather | Very wet and misty, eventually drying | |||
| Pole position | ||||
| Driver | Lotus-Ford | |||
| Time | 1:12.77 | |||
| Fastest lap | ||||
| Driver |  Jacques Laffite2 | Ligier-Matra | ||
| Time | 1:19.97 on lap 70 | |||
| Podium | ||||
| First | Lotus-Ford | |||
| Second | Tyrrell-Ford | |||
| Third | McLaren-Ford | |||
Lap leaders | ||||
The1976 Japanese Grand Prix1 was aFormula One motor race held atFuji Speedway on 24 October 1976. It was the 16th and final race of the1976 Formula One World Championship.
The 1976 World Championship was to be decided at the Mount Fuji circuit, withNiki Lauda just three points ahead ofJames Hunt after a season full of incidents including Lauda's near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring and subsequent missed races.
The field was almost unchanged from the previous race, butNoritake Takahara rented the secondSurtees replacingBrett Lunger andMasami Kuwashima replacedWarwick Brown in the secondWolf-Williams. However, Kuwashima was himself replaced byHans Binder during the meeting, after his money failed to materialize.Maki resurrected its Formula One car forTony Trimmer whileHeros Racing entered an old Tyrrell forKazuyoshi Hoshino onBridgestone tyres, which was the first Formula One start for the Japanese manufacturer.Kojima Engineering entered a locally built chassis forMasahiro Hasemi (onDunlop tyres).
Heading into the final race of the season it wasNiki Lauda who led the World Drivers' Championship by three points ahead ofJames Hunt. In the Constructors' Championship it wasFerrari who had an eleven point lead overMcLaren.[3] As this was the final race of the season with 9 points available for the win it meant that the Japanese Grand Prix would decide the Drivers' Championship although Ferrari had confirmed their Constructors' title win in theprevious round.[2]
For Lauda to win the Championship he needed:
For Hunt to win the Championship he needed to finish:
Mario Andretti took pole position in theLotus 77, with Hunt alongside him on the front row and Lauda third. Then cameJohn Watson in thePenske,Jody Scheckter,Carlos Pace,Clay Regazzoni andVittorio Brambilla. The top 10 was completed byRonnie Peterson and Hasemi. Trimmer failed to qualify the Maki.
On race day the weather was very wet with fog and running water at several places on the track. There were intense debates as to whether the race should be started; in the end the organisers decided to go ahead and a majority of drivers did not disagree. Some drivers, including Lauda, were not happy with the decision.
Hunt took the lead from the start with Watson and Andretti behind. On the second lap Watson slid down an escape road and Lauda drove into the pits to withdraw, as he believed the weather conditions made the track too dangerous. He later said "my life is worth more than a title."Larry Perkins made a similar decision after one lap, as did Pace andEmerson Fittipaldi later in the race.
Hunt continued to lead, behind him second place passed between Andretti and Brambilla. On lap 22 Brambilla challenged for the lead but spun out of contention before retiring 15 laps later with electrical problems.Jochen Mass moved into second before crashing on the 36th lap just before turn 7, promotingPatrick Depailler into the position with Andretti third.
It seemed Hunt was on for an easy win, but as the track began to dry he started to lose positions. He only needed a fourth place finish to win the title, because of Lauda's retirement. On lap 62 Hunt fell behind Depailler and Andretti, but two laps later Depailler's left rear tyre started to deflate and he had to pit. Andretti took the lead, but then Hunt had a similar tyre problem. Hunt pitted, dropped to fifth and set off after Depailler,Alan Jones and Regazzoni. Depailler overtook both drivers on lap 70 and on the next lap Hunt did the same and overtook both of them in order to win the World Drivers' Championship. There was brief confusion as the immediate unofficial finish marked him as fifth place, but with quick deliberation the official finish was third.Ferrari won theConstructors' Championship despite Lauda's retirement.
Andretti's victory was his second in Formula One, coming five years, seven months and 18 days after his maiden win at the1971 South African Grand Prix. As of 2024[update], this is the longest period between a first and second victory of a driver in the series.[5]
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