NASCAR (and I think F1) do this as well now. Used to be a bit of a wild west, but now all of the cars are to the same spec (which doesnt mean identical). Cars might be tuned differently, for example. For NASCAR, at least, I think it was to help level the playing field, so that lower funded teams could be more competitive.
UCSI also has strict regulations about bike dimensions, weight and even the kind of brakes that can be used. The min weight for a bike is around 15 lbs (think its actually 14.9, but I'm not up to date on current rules as ive stopped racing). Last I heard, disk brakes were not allowed for road racing, despite significant improvements to braking distance and safety in inclement conditions (I know a rule change was being considered a few years ago, so this might be different now). Oddly, they allowed electric deralliers without a rule change.
...except that people's feet are different, and some people probably run better in different shoes. So technology is back. You need to force everyone to run in Roman caligae. Naked. But expect more injuries and forget breaking records.