After winning the third leg at Undera Fricke, from Mansfield in Victoria, is on 37 points, six points clear of Tungate and second leg winner Jaimon Lidsey, from Mildura.

The first round at Kurri Kurri was abandoned after the track was ruled unsafe for racing and the series moved to Mildura for the penultimate leg on Thursday night before the final round at Gillman, in South Australia, on Saturday.

Fricke picked up 19 points at Undera, earning a maximum three points in the final from 2016 champion Brady Kurtz (15 points), Tungate (17 points) and former world and five-time Australian champion Chris Holder (14 points).

The Hunter's two other remaining riders in the series 2017 Aussie champion Sam Masters, from Newcastle, and Heddon Greta's Josh Pickering finished with 12 and seven points respectively. Masters finished third in his semi-final to narrowly miss a spot in the final.

Fricke, Tungate and Lidsey have made a mini-break on the rest of the field. Jack and Chris Holder and Brady Kurtz are on 25 points, Masters 21, Pickering 16 and Ryan Douglas 13.

However, the Albury leg revealed just how much can change in each round and that every heat can be crucial.

Tungate overcame a bent bike and blown engine to claim victory in the final of the Albury leg on Monday night.

He started brightly winning his first two heats, but a crash and exclusion in the third heat left one bike bent and then he blew his engine in the fourth heat on his second bike.

In a superhuman effort Tungate and his crew paired up the engine from his first bike with the frame of his second to resurrect his title quest with eight points from a possible nine to finish the night with a leg victory and 14 points.

"It was a crazy, crazy night. Things were going wrong all night but we got there in the end," Tungate said.

"It was a big effort, that's for sure. It wasn't easy when your head is all over the place in that position. To come back from it, I was pretty happy to do that."

The Albury leg of the championship series followed a disappointing opening night for the Kurri Kurri Speedway Club members when racing was abandoned when 44-plus heat left the track too dangerous for racing despite a huge effort by staff.

Unfortunately, Buttai's Jye Etheridge suffered a broke collarbone in a crash in the fifth heat of the meeting.

POINTS: 1. Max Fricke 37; 2. Rohan Tungate 31; 3. Jaimon Lidsey 31; 4. Jack Holder 25; 5. Chris Holder 25; 6. Brady Kurtz 25; 7. Sam Masters 21; 8. Josh Pickering 16; 9. Ryan Douglas 13; 10: Zack Cook 12; 11. Jordan Stewart 11; 12. Justin Sedgmen 9; 13. Robert Medson 9; 14. Ben Cook 7; 15. Jack Morrison 4. 16. Declan Knowles 0.