FUJI SPEEDWAY, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Britain´s Lewis Hamilton took a massive step towards winning the World Championship with victory on Sunday in a rain-lashed Japanese Grand Prix as title rival Fernando Alonso crashed out.

The McLaren-Mercedes driver, who would be the first rookie to win the title, leads the standings by 12 points with two races left after seeing team-mate and the reigning double champion Alonso smash into a wall 42 laps into the chaotic 67-lap race.

Hamilton won by more than eight seconds from Finland´s Heikki Kovalainen, who finished on the podium for the first time in his Renault career, with Ferrari´s Kimi Raikkonen third.

The 22-year-old could become the youngest driver and the first black driver to win the title in next Sunday´s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

Hamilton survived being knocked off the track mid-way through the race to claim the fourth victory of his maiden season.

He said: "It was a very eventful race. There were so many times during the race when I am sure it went through drivers´ heads that should we stop the race. There were times when it was tricky.

"I collided with Robert (Kubica). I could not see in my mirrors, my visor was all fogged up and could not see he was inside and I was fortunate to finish.

"I felt a vibration and thought there was something wrong with my car. I had it through the rest of race but the team said the car seems to be okay so just keep it on the track.

"There were lots of things going through my mind. During the last few laps I was thinking about races that (Ayrton) Senna and (Alain) Prost did. I´m feeling I am getting somewhere to achieving something similar to them."

Alonso was already struggling after being hit by Torro Rosso´s Sebastian Vettel when he skidded off the slippery track, leaving his McLaren stranded on the circuit with debris all around it.

It was the first time since Brazil in 2003 that a race had to be started under the safety car because of the atrocious conditions, with heavy rain hitting the track and Mount Fuji covered in fog.

The drivers were forced to drive carefully through the spray and puddles in around two minutes 13 seconds a lap -- around 40 seconds slower than the pole winning time set by Hamilton in qualifying on Saturday.

The Ferraris of Raikkonen and Felipe Massa had a nightmare time in the opening laps after neither started on full wets despite a ruling all drivers should because the race began behind the safety car.

Massa slid off on the second lap and pitted at the end of the lap for full wets while Raikkonen came in next time round and dropped down to 21st, one place behind his team-mate.

Brazilian Massa, though, had overtaken under the safety car to regain his position before he pitted and was handed a drive through penalty by the stewards.

The safety car was recalled after 19 laps, which took 42 minutes to complete, just as the first F1 race at the Fuji track in 30 years was threatening to turn into a washout.

The conditions had not improved and Williams driver Alex Wurz did not make it past the first corner before sliding off and clipping Massa as he returned to the track.

Alonso was the first to make a pit-stop at the end of lap 27, with Hamilton stopping one lap later leaving Vettel, who had qualified a career-best ninth, leading a race for the first time from Webber.

Double champion Alonso slid off on lap 29 and although he managed to get back on the track he lost several more seconds to his team-mate.

The Spaniard fell further back when BMW´s Nick Heidfeld bravely darted past at the start of lap 34 and two laps later he was hit by Vettel but managed to continue.

But Hamilton was then taken off the track by Robert Kubica in the other BMW. The Pole picked up a drive through penalty as Hamilton dropped to fourth.

Hamilton regained the lead on lap 40 as the others pitted before a thrilling championship battle took another dramatic twist on lap 42 when Alonso crashed out, leaving debris all over the track and forcing the safety car to be deployed.

Webber was lying second but any hopes of a podium were wrecked when his Red Bull was smacked out of the race by Vettel of his sister team while the safety car was still on the track. The incident also ended the rookie´s controversial afternoon.

Massa, despite an incident-packed race, found himself third but was called in for a change of tyres with nine laps left, allowing Raikkonen to overtake him for an extra point. The Finn is still 17 points behind Hamilton.

Raikkonen said: "We made a decision to start on intermediate tyres. It started to rain behind the safety car but that was not a big issue. For me the issue was that I could not see a car that was 50 metres in front of me.

"They say that there was a rule everybody had to start with extreme wets. Race control forget to tell our team and they forced us to pit behind the safety car.

"We lost points to Lewis again but we could not do much after being forced to change the tyres."

Kovalainen said: "Things did not look fantastic at the start, but we just kept going and the strategy worked out. The team deserves one podium at least from this year."

Massa snatched sixth place after a thrilling battle with Kubica in the closing corners, having been forced wide by the Pole before coming back onto the circuit to take the chequered flag.