Road Racer of the Year 2015 - 5th

5th - Lee Johnston Average poll score out of ten: 7.1Team: East Coast Construction/Burdens RacingNW200 wins: 1Podiums: 2Isle of Man TT wins: 0Podiums: 2Ulster Grand Prix wins: 3Podiums: 1Macau Grand Prix: 9th

Lee Johnston was one of the standout riders from 2015 after a magnificent run of results at the international road races.

The former British Superstock 600 champion made his roads debut at the North West 200 in 2008 but really began to make people sit up and take notice when he stepped up his involvement between the hedges in 2012, adding the Isle of Man TT, Ulster Grand Prix and Macau to his schedule.

Johnston has improved year on year and followed up a brace in the Supertwin class at the North West 200 in 2014 with a stunning victory in the Superstock race in May, halting event specialist Alastair Seeley's winning streak.

The 26-year-old from Fermanagh in Northern Ireland also made it onto the rostrum in both Supersport races at the North West and carried his form over to the TT, where Johnston was in illustrious company in the winner's enclosure after finishing a brilliant third in the Superstock race on the East Coast BMW behind Ian Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop.

He finished fourth and sixth in the Supersport TT riding a Triumph for the first time this season and took third in the TT Zero race for Victory Motorcycles to clinch another Mountain Course podium.

A memorable year for Johnston continued at the Ulster Grand Prix, where he stole the show with a hat-trick, winning both Supersport races and the Superstock event. He also finished third in the feature Superbike race, only 0.6 seconds behind race winner Bruce Anstey, but cited the lack of an international success in the premier class as the only disappointment of an otherwise magnificent season.

Johnston, who rounded out the year with a ninth place finish at the Macau Grand Prix, has remained with East Coast Racing for 2016, when a maiden TT victory and a coveted triumph in the Superbike class at international level will be his leading priorities.

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About the vote:
Thousands of votes were cast for the 2015 Crash.net Road Racer of the Year poll, where viewers awarded a shortlist of this season's most impressive riders with a mark out of ten.