Hi Jon
Make no mistake, Moto3 Production is the most serious of all the race classes - that's why all Thailand's top superbike racers are in it. The standard of preparation has improved hugely since the first race back in February, when it was basically a grid full of stock CBR250s.
The stories about scrutineeering strip-downs and rebuilds between races are exaggerated. There have been quite a few engine failures though. The rule is that you can modify standard engine parts, or use production parts from other bikes, like, say a Kawasaki D-Tracker engine in a CBR frame, so the engine failures are likely because of teams pushing too hard in their search for an advantage, or technically just not doing the job well enough. I cannot say categorically that scrutineering have never demanded a strip-down, but I can confirm that nobody has been penalised for cheating.
Lap times, particularly at a very technical track like Nakhonchaisri, are about rider skill and cornering speed: if you miss one apex at the track it will screw your lap time. Frankly, I'm surprised that the ER6 riders - all new to racing - have got so close to the Moto3 Production times. New lap records set last Sunday were:
SuperNaked: 1:31.414 (Colin Butler, ER6N)
Moto3 Production: 1:28.707 (Anucha Nakcharoensri, CBR250RR)
I have asked the Federation for a complete list of lap records for each class, which I'll post here, but to compare Tingnote's best lap times as an illustration of how technical the track at Nakhonchaisri is, his best Moto3 Production time is 1:30.102 and his best Superbike time is 1:24.316. For Colin Butler and Luke Stokes to be doing 1:31s on ER6s is just phenomenal!
A note on riders' skill levels in Thailand: Tingnote was faster than most of the regular MotoGP Moto2 riders at a recent test at Albacete and there are four other riders who regularly beat him in this class. International race teams are actively looking right now at recruiting riders from the series. It is a professional series: riders are paid a salary by teams and win prize money (10,000, 5,000, 3000 for first, second and third) and Honda's more loyal riders get bonuses on top of that for winning.
Hope that helps