Paul Fletcher International
Kart Circuit
Layouts
National Layout (hire-karts)
Length: 1018m
Turns: 9
National Layout
Length: 1050m
Turns: 10
International Layout (hire-karts)
Length: 1350m
Turns: 14
EKS Lap Record: 1:08.947 by Callum Bendelow
International Layout (owner-driver)
Length: 1382m (FIA-verified)
Turns: 15
History
Paul Fletcher
Paul Fletcher is the owner and creator of PF International and has been involved in karting since its very inception.
Paul is the third generation of a family bakers who ran a hugely successful bakery manufacturing business founded in 1895 in Sheffield called Fletchers Bakery. When Paul eventually retired and sold the business for £40m in 1999, it had grown to become one of the most diverse and highly efficient bakery manufacturers in the UK, serving both to retail and foodservice industries.
By the late 1950s, Paul was already the chairman of the Sheffield & Hallamshire Motor Club. In 1960, Paul purchased a kart on the spot after a demonstration in the large concrete car park of his bakery.
Aged 25, Paul immediately began racing karts and continued racing karts for the next quarter of a century, including at Fulbeck Circuit which is one field away from PF International.
Off the back of a scare where Fulbeck was threatened with being closed down in the 1980s, Paul decided he wanted to build his own kart circuit. After being denied permission to build a circuit in at least half a dozen locations, the owner of the cornfield which PF International is now situated on applied for outline planning permission to build a circuit. This permission was granted, and off the back of this, Paul applied for planning permission which was granted. Thus, PF International was born.
Paul Fletcher International Kart Circuit
PFi was constructed in the early 1990s and the state-of-the-art circuit opened in 1994 at a cost of around £3m. The circuit drew inspiration from Buckmore Park, with PFis original turn 1-5 section bearing a strong resemblance to the top half of the circuit at Buckmore Park.
The circuit was immediately popular with long straights and class leading facilities, and it was visually the most professional looking kart circuit in the country. PFis in-house Trent Valley Kart Club was formed in 1996 and began hosting club-level owner-driver meetings.
The track started hosting national meetings soon after it opened and hosted rounds of ITVs televised Champions of the Future series. Here you can see Lewis Hamilton racing at PFi in 1996 in Round 2 of the Champions of the Future Cadet class, a championship which he ended up winning.
PF International pictured in 1999 with an added kink towards the end of the lap
The circuit continued to go from strength to strength during the 1990s and 2000s, with owner Paul Fletcher consistently investing in the circuit and its facilities.
Garages on the far side of the car park were added during the 2000s which were then rented out to owner driver teams. PFis multi-story kart shop, the UKs leading kart store, was also constructed during the 2000s.
The circuit was visited during the 2000s by Fifth Gear as BTCC legend Jason Plato took on former Formula One driver Tiff Needell in, amongst other things, a 3-lap shootout around the circuit in world championship level KF1 karts.
PF International pictured in 2007 with added kart shop and garages
Extension
Paul Fletcher had long wanted to extend the circuit however did not own the land surrounding the circuit. This all changed at the start of the 2010s when he purchased a section of land at the southern end of the circuit from the Mormons who were reluctant sellers.
The circuit was extended by more than 300 metres in 2011 to its current configuration. The extension added gradient to the circuit in the form of a figure-of-8 style crossover bridge, as well as adding banking to the circuit with the new turn 4. It also made PFi the second longest kart circuit in the country behind Teesside Autodrome, which is also used by cars and bikes.
PFi in 2011 whilst the extension was still being finished
The newly extended circuit pictured in 2012
2013 CIK-FIA Karting World Championship
Courtesy of the new circuit extension, PFi was granted an International A grade track licence, becoming one of only 9 kart circuits in the world to obtain this licence.
As a result, PFi soon become a regular fixture on the international karting scene. In 2013, the circuit hosted part one of a two part CIK-FIA Karting World Championship, seeing drivers such as Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, George Russell, Lance Stroll and Alex Palou take to the circuit.
Max Verstappen put in a dominant display in the senior class, taking pole position, fastest lap and a dominant race victory in a foreshadowing of things to come.
Dan Ticktum meanwhile put in a remarkable drive in the junior class to win from 16th on the grid, however a post-race penalty for a bump and pass on Lando Norris handed the victory to Norris.
2017 CIK-FIA Karting World Championship
The CIK-FIA Karting World Championship returned to PFi in 2017, this time as the sole venue of the 2017 championship. A whole selection of current top feeder series drivers took to the circuit, including Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Zane Maloney.
British drivers dominated the event, with Danny Keirle winning the senior world championship. Future BTCC driver Dexter Patterson meanwhile won the junior world championship, heading up an all British podium.
The CIK-FIA Karting World Championship will be returning to PFi once more in 2024 on the 12th-15th September.
The EKS will also be visiting PFi in 2024, adding what is undoubtedly the UKs and one of the worlds best kart circuits to the calendar.