The torrential rain eventually stopped, and after a slow pit stop that put him down to 5th, Hunt drove hard and climbed up to 3rd, taking the 4 points he needed to win the title by the slender margin of one point over Lauda. American Mario Andretti won the race for his 2nd career win and first for Lotus, ahead of Frenchman Patrick Depailler in the Tyrrell P34. Hunt returned the next year to win the second Japanese Grand Prix, but a collision between Gilles Villeneuve and Ronnie Peterson during the race saw Villeneuve's Ferrari somersault into a restricted area, killing two spectators.[4] Although originally scheduled for an April slot in the 1978 season (which was cancelled), the race did not reappear on the Formula One calendar for another decade, and the race did not return to Fuji for an even greater time.