To be fair, I raced 2-stroke karts for years, and up until relatively recently, clutches weren't a thing. Most karts were direct-drive, as you didn't want lag and power loss, and simplicity was usually more important than anything else for weight and general sanity. The engine was more likely to stall when you didn't want it to than go when it shouldn't - if you spun in a race, that was it, race over.

That said, the rest of your kart sounds like it was probably best avoided - you should be grateful for that pull-start breakage, yes!