As the 1976 race started parts of the circuit were wet and overcast, and other parts were dry and bathed in sunlight, another classic problem of the Nürburgring. After pitting to change from wet to dry tyres at the end of the first lap, Lauda came out again, far behind the leader, West German Jochen Mass. While pushing hard to make up time on the second lap, Lauda crashed at the fast left hand kink before Bergwerk corner over six miles (10.8 km) into the lap, one of the more inaccessible parts of the circuit. Going through the corner, Lauda lost control of his Ferrari when its rear suspension failed. The car crashed into a grass embankment and burst into flames. During the impact, Lauda's helmet was wrenched from his head, and his burning Ferrari was hit by the cars of Brett Lunger, Arturo Merzario and Harald Ertl. Lunger pulled Lauda out of the burning wreckage instead of the ill-equipped track marshals, who only arrived at the scene well after the impact. The resilient Austrian was standing and talking to other drivers right after the accident and his injuries were initially not expected to be serious. However, he had been severely burned and had been breathing in toxic fumes, which damaged his circulatory system. It took the only medical helicopter at the circuit 6 minutes to reach the accident scene from the pits area, as opposed to at most a minute at any other circuit on the Formula One calendar. Lauda later lapsed into a coma and nearly died, putting him out of action for six weeks. The event was red-flagged and restarted; long-time Grand Prix driver Chris Amon elected not to take the restart. This was the last Grand Prix the unlucky New Zealander drove in. Englishman James Hunt won this race, which turned out to be crucial for his championship chances that year. After 49 years of hosting the German Grand Prix the old Nürburgring never hosted a Grand Prix again, and the race returned to Hockenheim.