First Lady of ICE

By John Pellan
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Updated: January 30, 2012

By Mandy Brodil Cervantes
Photos by Christopher Thompson

First I want to make sure I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, I am so blessed to have such amazing family, friends and fans. I am officially a week past the Bloomington wreck and finally starting to feel better. In case anyone missed what’s been going on this ICE season, here’s a recap…

Round 1 – Reading, PA 1/6/2012
In 2011 I worked hard at getting my Honda 250R dialed in. It paid off, I was able to win my fourth championship on my trusty old friend, but for 2012 season I decided I was going to commit to my Honda 450R as I felt I was lacking a little extra power-to-the-ground coming out of the corners. I love my 250R but I think it cost me a couple of races last year.

When I arrived in Reading, PA for the opening round, all I could keep saying to myself was, “What was I thinking?” I hadn’t ridden my 450R all summer and now I was going to hop on in it and hope I could ride it half as good as my 250R. Luckily, I drew two pole starting positions. In my first heat, I was plowing the front and couldn’t turn but still managed to win. I ended up having a flat tire causing this, so in my second heat Dusty Crouch let me use his fronts and I was able to pull off another win giving me pole for the main. That’s where the fun began. First, I blinked and thought the tape had gone up (clearly it hadn’t), then I dumped my clutch, grabbed a whole bunch of throttle and apparently traction sending me for a ride off the back of my bucking bull, man o man, this four stroke really hooks up! I tried hanging on for the 8-seconds, but failed. LoL! I had just thrown the win away with no one but myself to blame. For the restart of the race, I sat on the third row. I was a little hesitant off the line which meant I was last going into the first turn. With nothing to lose, I found my groove and charged my way up, passing to fourth place and salvaging what could have been a terrible night in the points chase. I’ve always heard you can’t win the championship in the first race – but you can lose it!

The best part of my ICE racing career is sharing the spotlight with my Mini-Me, my daughter the ICE Princess (Photo by Click Thompson)

Round 2 – Hampton, VA 1/7/2012
The next night we trekked our way back down south to my hometown race in Hampton, VA. This event normally has one of the biggest crowds of the season and it gives my friends and family a chance to see my alter ego. I didn’t draw great starts but I can’t get lucky every time. In my first heat I didn’t get a good jump, coming off the line second. When I came around for lap 2 my dad was sitting on the outside of turns one and two, which made it difficult to set up a pass on Kevin Smith who has been getting great starts and rides the bottom line. I ended up finishing the heat how I started, not able to make a move for first. In my second heat I grabbed the holeshot and walked away with the win but I still had to race the LCQ for a spot in the main. When all was said and done I finished second, good enough for a transfer to the main event. Off the start I was seventh (still gun shy) but quickly passed my way up to fourth using the outside line which I have never done before. My quad was hooked up and it was working. Coming out of turn two on lap five, complete mayhem erupted in front of me. From the video it looks like Crouch tried to pass on the inside, ran up Smith’s back tire which wrecked them both. The guy who was in third got caught up in the carnage and somehow I weaved my way through to the finish line where the race was red flagged. After making sure all involved were ok, the referee called the race giving me the win. Believe me, it’s not how I want a victory, especially knowing what people were bound to say about it but hey, I gave it away the night before so I’m happy to take it. The best part, sharing the spotlight with my mini-me, “The Ice Princess”!

Round 3 – Loveland, CO 1/13/2012
At first I wasn’t looking forward to this race, it’d be the first time I was traveling alone in quite awhile. Everything felt really good though, my Hoosier tires were hooking up and my Sparks engine had plenty of power to pass low or go up high so my main focus was to stay relaxed. This wasn’t hard to do with the crew that picked me up from the airport. From Thursday night until flying home Sunday I had a great time and laughed a ton, who said those guys on two wheels weren’t any fun. When I arrived at the arena Friday afternoon, Dusty’s dad had chalked off my area (in pink no less) which was hilarious, it was also a great pit spot so I was very thankful. After getting my quad ready, I went to eat with some of the guys and we did a few scary laps on the round-a-bouts. It was things like this that kept me calm, I didn’t have a lot of time to actually think about the race itself until it actually started. The ice looked soft so I was hoping I wouldn’t hookup as hard as I had the previous races. In the first heat I got the holeshot and kept a nice smooth pace going. My bike felt a little bogged down from the altitude but not enough to change anything. In my second heat I started second next to the green beast. I’m not sure what it is besides a Kawi, all I know is it’s a beast. Well, the tape went up and both of us got a pretty good jump. I stayed up high and battled back and forth with him around turns one and two trying to hold my ground. I don’t know how but I came out with the lead going into turn three. I was pumped for myself because I had always been an aggressive rider in the past, not dirty but would stand my own so it was a nice little flashback for me. I was fastest qualifier so I had pole position in the main. I didn’t want another start like I had in Reading so I did everything but glue my eyes open and sat on my gas tank. I grabbed the holeshot and just ran my own race. I never look back until the very end, so when I did I was surprised with the lead I had on second place. I p
ulled off the perfect night and it felt really good to earn the win on my own merit, no help from crashes, etc. So at this point I’m pretty happy, I miss my old 250R friend, but I made the transition to my 450R and I’m confident it was the right choice.