Talented Welsh youngster Craig Middleton makes his World Rally Championship debut this week on Wales Rally GB, and the man from Llandrindod Wells is aiming high as he prepares to mix it with the best in the world.Driving his Hyundai Accent World Rally Car, Craig will by partnered by Royston based co-driver Robin Hernaman for the three day rally - the longest and toughest event that Craig will have ever driven on.  The reigning National Junior Rally Champion warmed up for the Cardiff based event by scoring a fine second overall on the recent Park Systems Rally in South West Scotland, as he tried to push forward his chances of winning the coveted National Rally Championship crown.  Wales Rally GB presents an altogether different challenge for the MATADOR Tyres and Valvoline backed driver, who is also supported on the event by NGK and K&N Filters.  Middleton's aim for the rally is to be the first amateur driver at the finish - no mean feat with a number of very high quality entries received.  24 year old Craig is more than ready for the challenge however, and recently completed a short test at the Phil Price Rally School to shake down his MSD tuned Hyundai for the event.Despite 2004 being Craig's first year in a World Rally Car, the youngster has adapted quickly to the challenge, becoming a major forced to be reckoned with at National level in the UK.  Whilst Middleton might be a winner on home soil, he is under no illusions as to what to expect once the rally begins this week:"I'm competing against the best drivers in the World - you don't really need to say much more than that.  The challenge will be a difficult one, but both Robin and myself are looking forward to the rally.  It will be good to get the chance to make our own pacenotes for the rally, although with only two passes of the stages, the notes will have to be very good.  We recently went tyre testing ahead of the rally and the MATADOR SM-3 tyre works extremely well in dry and dusty conditions - we won the Mutiny Rally earlier in the year in those conditions.  As a result I'm very confident that if we can get off to a good start and have a clean run, we should be able to battle for the prize of finishing first amateur behind the works entered drivers".Craig has further responsibilities ahead of the rally, as he has been selected to represent Team Wales as part of the Nations Cup.  Joining Craig as part of the three car team are Geoff Jones and Gareth Jones.  Craig is looking forward to the team side of things:"Its always an honour to be able to represent your country on the World stage, and my team mates have both proven themselves to be very handy competitors in the forests of South Wales before, so it should be good.  The English and Scottish teams both look very strong so it will be an ideal chance to get one over on the old enemies if we can.  I'm looking forward to it."Middleton faces a stern test of his skills once the rally begins in Cardiff on Thursday night.  The youngster will face the daunting challenges of forests such as Brechfa and the mighty Resolfven - one of the longest stages in the World Rally Championship at over 30 miles in length.  Conditions are expected to be varied in the forests - with a mixture of sun and rain likely to make conditions tricky.  Middleton will get underway at the popular Cardiff Bay Super Special stage, where he will go head to head with another competitor on the spectator friendly venue, before the real test begins at the crack of dawn on Friday morning.