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The entry list for the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship has been announced by the ACO on Thursday, confirming a 30-car full-time line-up for the season, with the full 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list also released.

The new World Endurance Championship, set to be the first FIA-backed world sportscar series since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship in 1993, has attracted a capacity 30-car full-time field.

Meanwhile, the entry list for the Le Mans 24 Hours will see a full 56 cars take to the track, including a guest entry for the dubious Deltawing project.

In the WEC itself, the majority of the interest has been in the prototype classes, with strong-looking fields confirmed in both P1 and P2 despite the withdrawal of Peugeot's factory team last month.

Favourites for the overall title will be the Audi squad, who have confirmed two of their new R18 hybrid cars for the full WEC schedule.

The German marque will enter an unexpected four-car assault on Le Mans itself, with two R18 hybrids being backed up by two non-hybrid spec cars.

However, the big news from the LMP1 class was that Toyota's return to sportscars with their new petrol hybrid will now be a full WEC campaign, beginning at the second round at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Japanese company had previously suggested that they would run a limited programme before committing full-time in 2013, but will now fully commit to the series in the wake of Peugeot's shock withdrawal.

The company confirmed on Thursday that "unexpected changes" in the series had convinced them to sign up for enough races to be considered a full-time entry.

Toyota will not run at the opening round at Sebring but will enter a single car from Spa onwards in the WEC, with two cars entered at Le Mans itself.

Elsewhere in the LMP1 category, Rebellion Racing have confirmed their expected two-car programme with a line-up that will include ex-F1 driver Nick Heidfeld at Sebring, Spa and Le Mans.

Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo's eponymous team will also enter a car full-time in the WEC, the new Judd-powered 'Pescarolo' car thought to be a rebadged Aston Martin AMR-One chassis.

A second Pescarolo Sport entry, a coupe from the Japanese Dome company, has been entered alongside the main car for Le Mans.

There will also be full-time LMP1 entries for former LMP2 squad Strakka Racing and GT1 champions JRM with a new Honda-sourced HPD car, as well as Oak Racing with one of their Oak Pescarolos.

At Le Mans, as well as extra cars for Audi, Toyota and Pescarolo, the class will be boosted by a two-car entry from the Dyson Racing team, with a pair of Lola Mazdas the team campaigns in the ALMS, swelling the class to 15 cars despite Peugeot's demise.

The LMP2 class has seen the most intense support for the inaugural WEC, with a total of nine full-time entries being confirmed, up from just three in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup last year.

Those entries include a Zytek Nissan for 2011 Le Mans class winners Greaves Motorsport, and an Oreca Nissan for reigning ILMC champions Signatech.

There is also a 'Lotus'-named entry run by former HRT F1 team boss Colin Kolles, as well as a P2-spec HPD car for Grand Am frontrunners Starworks Motorsport.

The class will swell to an impressive 18 entries for Le Mans, with ALMS team Level 5 Motorsports and a second Greaves entry among the pick of the Le Mans-only crop.

While the prototype ranks remain healthy, the GTE-Pro category has suffered a dip in entries for 2012, chiefly due to the need to make space for the new P2 cars, along with the withdrawal of BMW.

Nine cars will compete in the class at Le Mans, including factory-backed efforts for Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and Corvette, but only five cars are registered for the full WEC season.

In GTE-Am, seven full-time WEC entries have been confirmed, with the amateur class swelling to 13 for the Le Mans race.

The ACO also confirmed that the final race of the 2012 WEC in China would take place in Shanghai, after the 'Six Hours of China' was initially scheduled without a circuit.

The 2012 World Endurance Championship will begin next month with the Sebring 12 Hours, a shared event with the American Le Mans Series expected to feature a capacity 64-car field.