So the tour ain’t been blessed with the greatest of conditions so far this year and, going from previous years’ performances, the Billabong Rio Pro is unlikely to deliver a whole lot better than Bells, Margaret or Snapper surf-wise. But everyone knows Brazil is all about the heated rivalries between the home favourites and the rest on tour, and the entertaining online judging banter that so often follows.

If we break the men and women’s tour down into nationalities (including wildcards), they’ll be 9 Brazilians, 12 Australians, 4 Americans, 3 Hawaiians and 3 Euros. A fairly level mix that should deliver plenty of competition! Here’s what the heat draw looks like right now:

Men Round 1 Heat Draw:

Heat 1 : Adriano de Souza (Bra), Bede Durbidge (Aus), Dion Atkinson (Aus)
Heat 2 : Gabriel Medina (Bra), Sebastian Zietz (Haw), Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 3 : Taj Burrow (Aus), Adrian Buchan (Aus), Raoni Monteiro (Bra)
Heat 4 : Joel Parkinson (Aus), Adam Melling (Aus), Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 5 : Kelly Slater (USA), Jérémy Florès, Peterson Crisanto (Bra, wild card)
Heat 6 : Mick Fanning (Aus), Mitch Crews (Aus), David do Carmo (Bra, wild card)
Heat 7 : Josh Kerr (Aus), Fred Patacchia (Haw), Travis Logie (AFS)
Heat 8 : Jordy Smith (AFS), Filipe Toledo (Bra), Aritz Aranburu (Esp)
Heat 9 : Julian Wilson (Aus), Miguel Pupo (Bra), Alejo Muniz (Bra)
Heat 10 : Nat Young (USA), Kai Otton (Aus), Jadson André (Bra)
Heat 11 : Michel Bourez, Owen Wright (Aus), Matt Wilkinson (Aus)
Heat 12 : John John Florence (Haw), CJ Hobgood (USA), Kolohe Andino (USA)

Women Round 1 Heat Draw:

Heat 1 : Bianca Buitendag (AFS), Malia Manuel (Haw), Alessa Quizon (Haw)
Heat 2 : Sally Fitzgibbons (Aus), Coco Ho (Haw), Nikki Van Dijk (Aus)
Heat 3 : Carissa Moore (Haw), Pauline Ado, Silvana Lima (Bra, wild card)
Heat 4 : Tyler Wright (Aus), Laura Enever (Aus), Alana Blanchard (Haw)
Heat 5 : Stephanie Gilmore (Aus), Dimity Stoyle (Aus), Johanne Defay
Heat 6 : Courtney Conlogue (USA), Lakey Peterson (USA), Paige Hareb (NZ)