Mooloolaba ironman Ali Day will try hard to ignore the black shirt on his back when he contests Sunday’s round of the Australian Ironman series in Perth.

The 21-year-old boasts a four-point buffer over fellow surprise packet Kendrick Louis leading into the round-four race but he won’t be burdened by the weight of expectation the leader’s bib brings.

“I’m just pretending this is round one again,” he said

“I’m not trying to really think about leading the series or wearing the black shirt.

“Instead, I’m just going back to doing my own thing and, hopefully, that will pay off and work.”

Day claimed the series lead after finishing second at Newcastle last weekend, behind five-time series champion Zane Holmes.

And he was not buying into any hype surrounding an apparent curse the leader’s shirt brings.

Reigning champion Shannon Eckstein sported the black bib before labouring to ninth place at Surfers Paradise. His brother Caine claimed the lead but stumbled to 14th position at Portsea.

Kendrick Louis took top spot but relinquished the shirt with a fourth place effort at Newcastle.

“Everyone’s joking around about the curse of the black shirt but it’s just another colour that you wear,” Day said.

“You’ve still got to go out and do exactly the same thing you would normally do.”

But Day admitted it will be tough to hold on to the series lead at Perth, where it is expected to reach 35 degrees during the gruelling 22.8km trek from Scarborough to Cottesloe Beach and back again.

“It’s going to be mighty hard to hold on to the leader’s shirt, especially in Perth, where we will be doing a two-and-a-half hour endurance race in the heat.

“I think you’ve got to be really smart if another guy does take a big lead in the race. They’re the hardest decisions to make in this sport and especially in this format of racing,” he said.

“If you burn out, it’s race over. You have to be willing and able to go when you have to go, but knowing when you have to go is the hardest thing.”

Northcliffe’s Kristyl Smith will take an 11-point advantage into the women’s race, which is an 11.4km event.

She leads Elizabeth Pluimers and defending champion Courtney Hancock.