After qualifying below expectations and being considered by some to be too far behind the newer Audis, BMWs and Mercedes-Benz machines the #18 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR has won the 2011 Nürburgring 24 hour race.

The driving crew of Romain Dumas, Lucas Luhr, Marc Lieb and Timo Bernhard did it in style, too, leading for most of the day on Sunday. The distance covered of 156 laps is a new record as well. It’s the fifth N24 victory in six years for Manthey Racing. and the tenth win for Porsche overall.

Finishing second was the #1 BMW M3 GT with the #14 Audi R8 LMS claiming the final podium step. Due to the everyone-wins-a-prize categories at the N24 all three cars on the podium are class winners as well.

Official images and text from Porsche and the other leading manufacturers to follow in the next 24-48 hours.

UPDATE: The last few minutes of the race can now be seen below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBGKP9usuu0