The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Fuji Speedway on 24 October 1976. It was the 16th and final race of the 1976 Formula One World Championship The 1976 World Championship was to be decided at the Mount Fuji circuit, with Niki Lauda just three points ahead of James Hunt after a season full of incidents including Lauda's near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring and subsequent missed races. Background Entries The field was almost unchanged from the previous race, but Noritake Takahara rented the second Surtees replacing Brett Lunger and Masami Kuwashima replaced Warwick Brown in the second Wolf-Williams. However, Kuwashima was himself replaced by Hans Binder during the meeting, after his money failed to materialize. Maki resurrected its Formula One car for Tony Trimmer while Heros Racing entered an old Tyrrell for Kazuyoshi Hoshino on Bridgestone tyres, which was the first Formula One start for the Japanese manufacturer. Kojima Engineering entered a locally built chassis for Masahiro Hasemi (on Dunlop tyres). Championship standings before the race Heading into the final race of the season it was Niki Lauda who led the World Driver's Championship by three points ahead of James Hunt. In the Constructors' Championship it was Ferrari who had an eleven point lead over McLaren. 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 Driver's championship although Ferrari had confirmed their win the Constructors in the previous round. Championship permutations For Lauda to win the Championship he needed: to finish ahead of Hunt to finish 3rd with Hunt 2nd to finish 4th or 5th with Hunt 3rd to finish 6th with Hunt 4th or lower Hunt to finish 5th or lower For Hunt to win the Championship he needed to finish: 1st 2nd with Lauda 4th or lower 3rd with Lauda 6th or lower 4th with Lauda 7th or lower Qualifying Mario Andretti took pole position in the Lotus 77, with Hunt alongside him on the front row and Lauda third. Then came John Watson in the Penske, Jody Scheckter, Carlos Pace, Clay Regazzoni and Vittorio Brambilla. The top 10 was completed by Ronnie Peterson and Hasemi. Trimmer failed to qualify the Maki. Qualifying classification Race On race day the weather was very wet with fog and running water at several places on the track. There