Technically a sprag clutch can be built small enough to fit a 50mm axle and inside a wheel rim.
given the shock loading, between engagement / disengagement, you might have problems making it reliable for the size.
as for the rules, they would be disqualified under "16.10. Direct drive karts must have effective brakes acting on the rear wheels only, unless specified in Class Regulations. "
as soon as a kart was travelling backwards there would be no brakes, the wheels would be in free overrun, which could hardly be described as effective braking. The brakes must be effective no matter what direction the kart is travelling, particularly backwards as that's likely to end in the tyres. High speed rear impacts into the tyres can ruin your entire day.
This (braking) avoids the debate about 'differential'.
Any system that enables the wheels to travel at different speeds on the same axle is by definition a differential system, one that permits differential speed. The fact that it isn't a differential gearbox doesn't make it not a differential system. The rules carefully do not state 'gearbox' but forbid differential systems.
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