Cassidy a 'very lucky man' after NW200 crash

The motorcycle rider who landed on a car bonnet after being flung from his bike at the North West 200 on Thursday admits he feels like a "very lucky man".

Paul Cassidy was sent cartwheeling through the air after hitting a padded wall following a collision with another rider during a qualifying session.

Having come off his bike, the Isle of Man rider landed on a car bonnet, and while his leg is badly bruised, he managed to escape the incident without major injuries.

"Everything went into slow motion. I tried to think 'do I go up the coast road' and then I knew I was going too fast so I couldn't do that," Cassidy told BBC Sport NI.

"I looked at the brick wall with the padding on it and thought 'well we're going to hit that' so it's a case of not hitting that and not following the bike in.

"Just before I hit it, I jumped off the seat and that sprung me in the air, after I hit the barrier and it sent me 20-odd foot in the air."

Cassidy, whose crash has gone viral on social media on Friday, admits he did not realise he had landed on the bonnet of a parked car.

But the Manx rider said he was thankful to have landed on the car, which he feels cushioned the fall.

"I didn't even know anything about it," he added.

"I was on the floor trying to catch my breath at the time and one of the marshals said, 'have you seen the car?'

"To be honest, if I hadn't hit that car, I'd possibly not be here today."

He added: "I feel like a very lucky man. Very, very lucky. It's all down to that car being there. If that wasn't there, I would've come down and hit the concrete and it would've been a different game, wouldn't it?"

Cassidy also thanked the medical staff who tended to him quickly after his incident.

"I took my helmet off and the doctors told me to sit down. They did all the checks, checked my heartrate, blood flow and I can't thank them enough.

"The medical staff were fantastic, they were there straight away. They did a fantastic job."

Having received medical attention, Cassidy was back working with his team in the North West 200 paddock on Friday.

When asked about people's reaction, he said: "People are amazed by it. 'How are you still here? How are you still walking?'

"People have fell off the second rung of a ladder and bust a hip, haven't they? I've gone 25 [feet] up in the air, landed on a car bonnet, got up and walked away. Figure that one out."