Formula 1 Grand Prix of Japan in 1976

The Grand Prix Formula 1 of Japan 1976 was held on October 24 1976 in Fuji .

Contents

 * 1 Report
 * 1.1 Qualification
 * 1.2 Race
 * 2 Result
 * 3 Statistics

Qualification
Mario Andretti took pole position for the title contenders James Hunt and Niki Lauda . Behind them were John Watson , Jody Scheckter , Carlos Pace , Clay Regazzoni and Vittorio Brambilla . The top 10 was perfected by Ronnie Peterson and Masahiro Hasemi .

Race
The weather was very bad for the race and there were several discussions and the race had to be started or not. Eventually, the organizers decided that the race should continue, supported by most riders. Lauda, ​​however, was not so happy with this decision. At the start, Hunt took the lead, Watson and Andretti. Lauda had his form after his crash at the German Grand Prix has not quite found and ended in the middle of the field. In the second round he was also in the pits and gave up. The track was too dangerous to race. Also Pace and Emerson Fittipaldi followed his example.

Hunt was riding in the lead, while behind him the situation was very mixed: Andretti went several times over Brambilla. The Italian tried in the 22th round even take the lead but spun off. Jochen Mass climbed to second place this reason the McLarens in the first and second place. However, this was only short-lived because he went in the 36th round of the track, causing Patrick Depailler second was for Andretti.

It seemed to be an easy victory for Hunt, but when the track started to dry, he lost a number of places. He had to be only fourth because Lauda had given. In the 62th lap he fell behind Depailler and Andretti, but two laps later began Depaillers left rear tire to deflate, causing him to go into the pits. Andretti thus took the lead, but at that time Hunt had a similar problem with his tires. He was forced into the pits and thus fell back to fifth place and had to chase up Depailler, Alan Jones and Regazzoni. Depailler passed both riders in the 70th round and the next round Hunt did the same. Hunt took the third place and the world championship, although he thought he had lost. Ferrari won despite giving Lauda however still the constructors' championship.