Who invented one make championships?

I know some people who would certainly kick the butt of the inventor of one make championships, truly believing they destroyed car racing.  I dare not say what was the first international one make race or tournament ever held. For sure, there were races in the 20s or 30s, in which only Bugattis competed, albeit unintentionally.   However, the race discussed in this post was probably one of the first intentional attempts to hold a one make championship and race in the world.  

The location and timing could not be more exquisite. Nowadays we are used to racing events in Indonesia, Malaysia, China, even Saudi Arabia. However, in the aftermath of World War II,  international races in places other that Western Europe or the USA could rate as madness. How about Africa?

There was racing in the continent in the Pre-War period, I know. One of the most famous GP of the 30s was the Tripoli event, in Lybia, and even South Africa was visited by the Auto Union team in the same decade. How about Egypt?

A visionary has two fates: he either becomes hugely successful and widely praised for his genius or falls flat on his face and becomes the subject of jokes for his craziness. Let us say the creator of this single make race held in 1947 ended up in the second team.

Piero Dusio was the guy's name and his creation was the Cisitalia. I imagine, with some poetic liberty, that Piero believed that his baby, the D46, and his concept would save the sport. So he embarked on this adventure with the financial support of some Swiss nationals, which certainly made matters easier. Wasting other people's money is always a sweet deal...

Sixteen D46 were shipped to the circuit of El Ghezira, located in a residential island off Cairo. The drivers, almost all Italian, included Alberto Ascari, Franco Cortese, Piero Taruffi, Nello Pagani, Dorino Serafini, among the best known. Dusio himself was set to drive one of his cars. Monegasque Louis Chiron, who had won many Pre-War GPs, was there to add international flavor.

The drivers had a blast. Local authorities, including King Farouk, embraced the initiative with enthusiasm. However, come race day a mere 6000 frightened people witnessed the race, comprising two heats and a final race.

Cortese won one of the heats, Ascari the other. At the end of 50-lap final, Cortese won again, followed by Ascari, Taruffi, Dusio and Tadini. Cortese received the solid gold trophy from the hands of the king himself, but the Swiss backers were not a tad impressed with the financial meltdown from the creative event, and withdrew their support, leaving Dusio in a precarious state. In fact, almost bankrupt.

The D46s were sold to drivers from several countries, and driven by some famous people, including Nuvolari and Stuck, in fact won races in some places. The car was equipped with a 1.5 Fiat engine, so it was used in the voiturette category, and was raced as late as the 50s.

Cisitalia never took off, certainly because of the failure - temporary - of the one make concept.  The cars made by the company are still highly sought and appreciated.