Reigning V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup says his relationship with race engineer David Cauchi is starting to bear fruit after winning six of the last nine races.

The five-time V8 Supercars champion began the season working alongside Cauchi following the promotion of his previous engineer Mark Dutton to the role of Red Bull Racing team manager.

During a seven season spell, the prolific Whincup/Dutton partnership secured all five of the 31-year-old’s V8 titles.

However, after starting from scratch with a new engineer in Cauchi, Whincup believes the relationship is starting to click into place having reclaimed the lead in the championship for the first time since race one at the Clipsal 500.

“We started at a fairly low base,” Whincup told Speedcafe.com of his relationship with Cauchi.

“We weren’t really talking the same language so to speak for the first three or four months.

“However, things are starting to click between us but we have still got a hell of a long way to go to get to the stage with Dutto (Mark Dutton) but we are ahead of schedule.

“Cauchi has got an unbelievable attitude and he wants to win and throw everything on the line.”

Having hauled himself to the top of the standings with two victories at Queensland Raceway earlier this month, Whincup is expecting another tough battle at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.

The Melbourne-born driver and his Red Bull team have struggled to extract the best out of the soft compound tyres which will once again be in use at the Sydney Motorsport Park 400.

“We are not suited,” added Whincup, who has won nine races this season.

“Its all about the soft tyres and that is our weakest leg. We will do the best we can but I don’t expect to be firing. Hopefully we have made some gains in that area.

“This is the end of chapter one. I split the year into three chapters.

“Its been up and down and a challenging chapter one, and hopefully we can round it off with a strong result.”