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The Yamaha rider won his ninth race of the season - to reach 383 points for the campaign breaking Valentino Rossi's previous record of 373 - and beat home Australia's Casey Stoner on a Ducati while Rossi bade farewell to Yamaha with a third placing.
The Yamaha stable reciprocated what Rossi termed the end of a love affair by shedding their team strip to display bright yellow tee shirts emblazoned with 'bye bye baby' after a 46 race relaationship which sees the exuberant Italian - known as the 'doctor' depart for Ducati.
"It has been a great experience and I have enjoyed it a lot," said 31-year-old Rossi, who made a remarkably quick return to the circuit this season after breaking his leg earlier in the campaign in qualifying at Mugello.
"I wanted to do a good race for Yamaha on my farewell but I didn't have any power to stop the bike so I had to slow down.
"I would like to thank everybody at Yamaha and say it has been a lot of fun."
With 15 laps remaining Stoner - who had won three of the last four races and will join Honda next season - led Lorenzo by a hairs breadth with Rossi close up in third.
Mario Simoncelli was hard on the heels of Dani Pedrosa, who had been in contention but had dropped back as he was still feeling the after effects of the broken collarbone he suffered earlier in the season.
Pedrosa, Simoncelli - who started off the front of the grid for the first time in his MotoGp career - and another Italian Andrea Dovizioso were fighting out their own battle for the minor placings as they were five seconds off the top three with 13 laps to the chequered flag.
Dovizioso overtook them both a lap later but Pedrosa showing remarkable resilience fought back and was back in fourth as the lap came to an end while American rookie Ben Spies crept up to join them.
As Rossi dropped away Lorenzo saw his chance and passed Stoner with just over eight laps remaining driving the Spanish crowd wild as they danced up and down and waved their flags with gay abandon.
Back down the field Dovizioso passed Simoncelli while Spies stayed doggedly on their wheels with Pedrosa now trailing.
However, the thrilling ding dong battle saw Spies go fourth with three laps remaining as Simoncelli failed to overtake Dovizioso and the American - who is struggling with a foot injury - took advantage to go past both Italians.
Up front Lorenzo had pressed home his advantage and was over two seconds ahead of Stoner going into the final lap to round off a stunning season.
"Today was one of the best races of my life," gasped Lorenzo, who also bettered Rossi's record of podium finishes in a season with 18 compared to the Italian's previous mark of 16.
"I had a few problems with Simoncelli early on but then I got free and had a really very beautiful battle with Casey Stoner.
Moto GP results from Sunday's Valencia Grand Prix at the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) Cheste circuit:
1. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Yamaha, 46 minutes, 44.622 seconds.
2. Casey Stoner, Australia, Ducati, 46:49.198.
3. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Yamaha, 46:53.620.
4. Ben Spies, United States, Yamaha, 47:02.265.
5. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Honda, 47:03.782.
6. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Honda, 47:05.296.
7. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Honda, 47:11.419.
8. Hector Barbera, Spain, Ducati, 47:13.910.
9. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Suzuki, 47:14.073.
10. Randy de Puniet, France, Honda, 47:14.482. ^Final Standings=
1. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Yamaha, 383 points.
2. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Honda, 245.
3. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Yamaha, 233.
4. Casey Stoner, Australia, Ducati, 225.
5. Andrea Dovisioso, Italy, Honda, 206.
6. Ben Spies, United States, Yamaha, 176.
7. Nicky Hayden, United States, Ducati, 163.
8. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Honda, 125.
9. Randy De Puniet, France, Honda, 116.
10. Marco Melandri, Italy, Honda, 103.
Moto2:
1. Karel Abraham, Czech Republic, FTR, 43 minutes, 49.499 seconds.
2. Andrea Iannone, Italy, Speed Up, 43:50.021.
3. Julian Simon, Spain, Suter, 43:50.082.
4. Thomas Luthi, Switzerland, Moriwaki, 43:50.259.
5. Scott Redding, Britain, Suter, 43:53.704.
6. Alex De Angelis, San Marino, Motobi, 43:54.884.
7. Simone Corsi, Italy, Motobi, 44:00.898.
8. Sergio Gadea, Spain, Pons Kalex, 44:10.919.
9. Dominique Aegerter, Switzerland, Suter, 44:11.938.
10. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Speed Up, 44:12.411. ^Final Standings=
1. Toni Elias, Spain, Moriwaki, 271 points.
2. Julian Simon, Spain, Suter, 201.
3. Andrea Iannone, Italy, Speed Up, 199.
4. Thomas Luthi, Switzerland, Moriwaki, 156.
5. Simone Corsi, Italy, Motobi, 138.
6. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Speed Up, 109.
7. Jules Cluzel, France, Suter, 106.
8. Scott Redding, Britain, Suter, 102.
9. Stefan Bradl, Germany, Suter, 97.
10. Karel Abraham, Czech Republic, FTR, 96.
125cc:
1. Bradley Smith, Britain, Aprilia, 40 minutes, 25.648 seconds.
2. Pol Espargaro, Spain, Derbi, 40:28.434.
3. Nicolas Terol, Spain, Aprilia, 40:28.797.
4. Marc Marquez, Spain, Derbi, 40:33.974.
5. Sandro Cortese, Italy, Aprilia, 40:50.023.
6. Esteve Rabat, Spain, Aprilia, 40:52.391.
7. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Japan, 40:52.471.
8. Efren Vazquez, Spain, Derbi, 40:53.282.
9. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland, 41:06.859.
10. Luis Salom, Spain, Aprilia, 41:06.927. ^Final Standings=
1. Marc Marquez, Spain, Derbi, 310 points.
2. Nicolas Terol, Spain, Aprilia, 296.
3. Pol Espargaro, Spain, Derbi, 281.
4. Bradley Smith, Britain, Aprilia, 223.
5. Efren Vazquez, Spain, Derbi, 152.
6. Esteve Rabat, Spain, Aprilia, 147.
7. Sandro Cortese, Germany, Derbi, 143.
8. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Japan, Aprilia, 127.
9. Randy Krummenache, Switzerland, Aprilia, 113.
10. Danny Webb, Britain, Aprilia, 93.
