Local MKR Favourites to Cook at Tyrepower Tasmania 400

If you’re a fan of good track food, head to the V8 Supercars on Friday to meet My Kitchen Rules local favourites Bianca Johnston and Thalia Papadakis.

The young friends from the Apple Isle will be part of ‘Flavours of the Region’, a mini food festival at the track, and will show off their skills in a live cooking demonstration on the first day of the Tyrepower Tasmania 400.

Flavours of the Region celebrates local produce – but what exactly makes good track food?

“Good food with sports is just something you can nibble on throughout the day – party food, really,” Bianca told v8supercars.com.au.

She compared satisfying hungry race fans to MKR challenges where they cooked at a train station in Sydney peak hour, and at a school, though admits a race track would be a different task again. 

While the girls have not attended a V8 Supercars event before, Bianca said given the popularity of the event in Tasmania, it was something she had hoped to do.

“Being invited from MKR is an exciting way to do it," the 20-year old said. 

“We definitely love when people come up and say hi, and we get to meet people who watch the show and who are interested in what we do… We’ve never attended something like this before, but that’s what makes it more exciting – it’s a new experience for us.”

Bianca and Thalia continue to fire on My Kitchen Rules, with the next episode airing on Sunday night at 6.30pm on Seven.

“It’s even more than surreal watching it all back, because it happened a while ago now – especially going through the highs and lows of it, like seeing your friends eliminated and things like that, and even seeing yourself struggle is a really weird feeling,” Bianca said.

Being the young guns in the competition, Bianca felt other contestants may have under-estimated them in the beginning, and offered some words of encouragement to our V8 Supercars rising stars.

“You kind of undersell and over-deliver. The young contestants may not see themselves as a threat, but I’m sure they will do really well on the day. They’re the people to surprise everyone I think!”

The Tassie MKR pair will also be lucky enough to go for a hot lap around the 4.2km circuit with last year’s winner Fabian Coulthard. “We’re very excited about that, but I think I’m going to have to just close my eyes!”

Head to the Tyrepower Tasmania 400 at Symmons Plains Raceway on Friday to meet Thalia and Bianca, where they will cook at 12.30pm local time, and spend the day at the circuit.

Tickets are available for the V8 Supercars event now.

Stay tuned to Channel Seven on Sunday night for the next installment of My Kitchen Rules.